Secondary
by Arianette
Summary: After a break up, Uchiha Shisui is determined to find Itachi a girlfriend. When Sakura steps into the picture, he gets a wild idea to bring the two unsuspecting people together. But if he succeeds, could their union withstand the clan's defection from Konoha? Non-massacre AU.
1. Celebration

_**Naruto and its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto. This story may contain spoilers.**_

**_Since this is an AU, there are many things that differ from the canon universe. Madara never attacked the village with the Kyuubi when Naruto was born. Therefore, Minato and Kushina are still alive. Technically Kushina is still the Jinchuuriki. Minato is obviously the Hokage. That also means that the Uchiha clan, Jiraiya, Asuma and others are still alive. _**

**_After Sasuke graduated from the Academy at 13, Fugaku gave Sasuke a job as an officer of the Konoha Military Police Force, and Sai who was taken from Danzo's root replaced him. _**

**_Tsunade still trained Sakura and Jiraiya still trained Naruto, that much is the same. Of course, Orochimaru didn't train Sasuke, Fugaku did since Orochimaru has no direct link to Sasuke here._**

**_I have no idea what Shisui is like in canon since we never get to see him, but my headcanon is that he is somewhat similar to Naruto but a little more energetic and rowdy. (Of course I may be totally wrong, but we don't know enough about Shisui to decide otherwise.) \_**

**_Finally, this isn't that important but, _****_the Uchiha household is described as lot larger than it actually is in canon._**

* * *

Strong gusts of wind forcefully shook the Chidorinoki trees. The clipped green leaves danced in a whirlwind from the warm gale. Murky, dark clouds formed and painted the sky several shades of gray. The summer storm was fast approaching.

Leaping from one tree branch to the next, Shisui and his ANBU teammates, Uchiha Itachi, Aburame Muta and Kago Migaki, hurried home before the worst of the storm was to come. Unfortunately, when they were less than a kilometer away from the village gates, the rain started to pour. The cold drops of rain pelted their skin and their clothes became drenched and heavy.

Shisui watched his cousin sprint a few meters ahead. He knew the younger Uchiha was still brooding over their failed mission. The four had been sent to the outskirts of the country, where a band of missing nins had kidnapped several civilians. He, Itachi, and Muta had found nothing, but their medic Migaki had encountered two persons after their ANBU group momentarily split up. The cloaked strangers poisoned and wounded Migaki. Luckily, Muta had antidotes in his possession and was able to stop the poison from reaching vital points. Regrettably, the man still suffered from other minor damages.

Their mission went from bad to worse. Not only was their medic injured, but the nins had kidnapped more people right under their noses and had not left the slightest trace of their trail. The only lead they had on the kidnappings were testimonies from distressed family members.

Despite Migaki's injuries the team stayed longer. Itachi was convinced the culprits were still in the area, but minutes became hours and too much time had passed. Their ANBU squad remained unsuccessful in their attempts to locate the suspects.

Defeated, they left the village of Katsuki. It was urgent that they returned home to report to he Yodaime because whatever was going on was much more serous than they previously thought.

For as long as Shisui knew his cousin, who was two years his junior, the man hated failure. In fact, he hated failure so much he would become even more silent than he already was. Although, Itachi never outwardly expressed his exasperation, it often rubbed off on everyone else somehow. Without meaning to, he made everyone feel just as miserable as he felt. Shisui used to find Itachi's downcast moods extremely tiresome, but as time went on he found that provoking Itachi during these times was actually very amusing.

The sun was near setting and the rain began to fall harder. They were already several hours behind their scheduled return and they still needed to report to the Hokage. Although they were tired, they could not stop for the night. Both he and Itachi were expected to return to Konoha. Today was Sasuke's birthday. Mikoto spent weeks preparing for the celebration and several family members and friends would attend.

Shisui chuckled. Sasuke was probably sulking right about now. Much like Itachi, Sasuke hated these parties Mikoto always set up. But that didn't stop their mother from the social events. The ideas stemmed from Kushina who really enjoyed throwing large parties. Really, when the two women were around each other they acted like teenagers.

"Is there any reason why you are laughing, Shisui?" Itachi asked solemnly. He still leapt ahead several meters, not at all bothering to turn to face his cousin.

"I was just thinking," he laughed again, "your mother is going to kill you when you get home."

Itachi stiffened slightly. Unbeknownst to everyone except for Sasuke and himself, Itachi had a very close relationship with his mother. The two often spent a lot of time together when her eldest son wasn't busy on missions. It was fun teasing him about it. In actuality, it was fun teasing Itachi about anything. He hardly ever retorted, but his displeasure was always evident.

"Our tardiness could not be avoided."

"Well, we could have just left after finding out the nins weren't in the village. Instead of circulating the village and surrounding villages twice. Plus, we still need to get Migaki to the hospital and report to the Hokage. You know the Yodaime will want to know all the details of our very unsuccessful mission."

"_Shisui. _Enough." Itachi's tone was firm, not appreciating being ridiculed.

"I'm just saying obasan will not appreciate you being so late. You know with Sasuke's party and all."

"My mother will hardly miss our company with the vast multitude of persons she invited to Sasuke's gathering."

_Mikoto would definitely notice her precious baby's absence. _Shisui opened his mouth to make the remark, but closed it almost immediately. Itachi would definitely make him pay for his insubordination with extra training hours.

The kid _really _needed to get laid.

After a drawn out hour of staring at Itachi's back, the team arrived to Konoha. Muta split from the team, assisting Migaki to the hospital while Shisui and Itachi went to the Hokage's residence. Itachi rapped his knuckles on the door of the Yodaime's office for several minutes until his secretary approached them. The Yodaime was not present. Minato and Kushina were close friends of Itachi's parents. Thus, the Hokage was at Sasuke's party and not in his office. The Namikazes always went to Mikoto's parties.

Not to mention, their ANBU team was, after all, supposed to report to the Hokage almost four hours ago. Which they could have if they left soon after they found Migaki. Really, they should have known he wouldn't be present.

Itachi's eyes narrowed a fraction. It didn't help that he was already late several hours but he was also soaking wet. Now he had to return home to several guests with the appearance of a wet mop. He was not pleased. Okaasan would not be pleased.

They left the Hokage's residence and sprinted off of rooftops until they finally reached the Uchiha compound. Itachi heard the murmurs of their guests inside their sizable home. He didn't need to hear much more to know that there were many people that invaded his home.

He looked over to his cousin, who much like himself, was dripping wet but not heading in the direction of his house.

"Are you not returning home?" Itachi inquired.

"Return home and miss obasan yelling at you? No way. I'm sticking around to see this. Besides I can just borrow your clothes."

"We are not the same size."

"You only outgrew me by a _mere_ five centimeters, Itachi. You shouldn't get such a big head about it" he jeered. "I'm still older and I'm still stronger."

Itachi stared at him with slight amusement. He and Shisui were very different from each other, but he enjoyed his cousin's company. He actually preferred to be around him with his playful nature, it was refreshing from the other usually serious Uchiha clansmen.

They stalked around his house, trying to find an area that was not occupied with people. Just about the entirety of his house was immersed with his mother's guests. When he and Shisui were about to leap onto the slope of the roof, his father's voice stopped them. _So much for being stealth_.

His father appeared as a silhouette in front of the glow of the lights. But, Itachi didn't need to see his face to know he was vexed. His father always became stressed during these parties. It was one of the few things they shared in common.

"Oi! Ojisan!" Shisui called out waving his hands and catching the attention of not only Fugaku, but several guests that were sitting outside. Itachi was going to kill him.

"Shisui." Fugaku addressed his cousin then turned to him. "You're late."

"We ran into some trouble."

His father scrutinized him, acknowledging his appearance. He knew he looked ridiculous right now. His dark, wet hair pasted to his face and his ANBU uniform drenched from acting as a sponge to the rain.

"Was the mission successful?"

"No"

His father frowned deeply. Being the successor of the clan, Itachi was expected to perform missions to complete excellence. His father always made sure of it. However, Fugaku did not tolerate failure. "You know what is expected of you, Itachi. Do not let that happen again. Go get ready. Your mother has been waiting for you."

"Ah"

* * *

The party had begun several hours ago. She was a little taken aback that Mikoto-san had thrown such an extravagant party for Sasuke. In the past Mikoto had thrown other parties for him, but the guests usually consisted of few family members and his friends. This function, however, seemed to have about a quarter of the clan in attendance.

Being the head family of the Uchiha clan, Sasuke's parents had one of the largest houses in the compound. Now their traditional, old-fashioned home was full of guests. Everything had been going well until the storm drew the crowd from outside of the house inside. Now she and Sai who were not Uchihas stuck out like a sore thumb.

Even though the Namikazes weren't Uchihas either they were actually accepted by the clan. It may of had something to do with the Yodaime's work of getting the Uchiha's more integrated with Konoha than they had in the past or perhaps because of their close relationship with Fugaku and Mikoto. She wasn't really sure, what she was sure of was the Uchihas typically did not like people outside of their clan. It was a reason why Shino, Kiba, Ino, Neji, and Hinata rarely came to these funtions. Luckily, her and Sai weren't a part of any clans, and there was never bad blood, but they still weren't as accepted. It wasn't that the Uchiha clan went out of their way to discriminate against those who weren't in their clan, but their dislike was evident.

To put it nicely, most of the clan was stuck up and while there were exceptions, they often did not talk to 'outsiders.' Dating and marrying outside of their clan was seen as dishonorable. While she was over her schoolgirl crush on Sasuke, it saddened her to know he could never marry outside his clan. Hopefully, he would meet a girl that he actually did love and not marry her because he had to. Months before he turned eighteen, Sasuke told her how his family had talked about potential marriage candidates for him. He and his older brother, Itachi, were expected to be married when they turned twenty-five. They were supposed wed earlier, but Mikoto-san made sure the clan gave her sons time to try and meet a girl. If they weren't married by then, the clan would pick a wife for them. The idea sickened her. Marriage should be between two people who loved each other and not because the clan deemed it necessary for reproduction.

Being the attractive man that he was, Sasuke got a lot of attention from people, albeit it was all unwanted. Throughout the whole night, Sasuke had a number of females from the compound lapping around him. They drooled over his every movement and every word he spoke. Most of his enthusiasts did not remain for long, except for two girls that seemed to know him pretty well. Only one of them though stuck to him like glue. The other one may have just been the girl's relative or friend. Both females looked similar to one another, dark hair, pale skin, and relatively tall. As expected from Uchiha DNA, they were very attractive.

She, Sai and Naruto, as well as Sasuke and his Sasuke's company, were seated crossed legged on the tatami mats. The short dining table stood as a barrier separating them. She sat in between Sai and Naruto while Sasuke and his guests sat across the table. If she had been her twelve year old self she would have fought them all off. Instead she, Naruto, and Sai watched Sasuke's reaction to their company with amusement.

She whispered to the males on each side of her. "You think Sasuke's interested in those girls?"

Naruto smirked. "Why are you jealous?"

"No way. But I do find it incredibly annoying that they're clinging to him like leeches. They're not a part of our group."

"I didn't know we had an exclusive group, Hag" Sai replied.

"Shut up. You know what I mean."

"Yeah but they are a part of their clan. He can't shoo them off even if he wanted to." Naruto remarked. "Besides, they're really nice. You should try talking to them Sakura-chan."

_Try talking to them?_ The Uchiha were not an easy clan to talk to. Coexisting with them was easy, but having a conversation with a rock would be easier. Yes, she would much rather have a conversation with a rock. Her thoughts were broken when Mikoto stood on the opposite side of the large room. Calling the attention from her guests. Next to her was Sasuke's dad, while the Namikazes sat down nearby. Mikoto looked radiant, her smile lit up the room. Usually, the woman wasn't this colorful, yet similar to most of the adults tonight, she was slightly inebriated from drinking sake. Sakura didn't take the woman for a drinker but she supposed it was expected since it was a celebration.

The room had become quiet and everyone's focus was on the mother Uchiha. "If I can get your attention," she giggled, the alcohol still working in her system. "Come here, Sasuke" she called to her son, and after some effort, he hesitantly walked over to her. His mother was the only person who could tell him something once and he would comply. He completely adored the woman.

Mikoto wrapped her arm around his waist pulled him close to her. It was amusing to see the always-serious Sasuke in such an intimate position. His fans were probably gushing over the sight. Naruto laughed at Sasuke's expense only to get Kushina-san to drag him over from across the room and despite his size, she pulled him onto her lap. Earning her a very sour faced Naruto.

"Now that we're all here..." Mikoto looked around the room, her sharp eyes scanned through the faces in the crowd. "Where's Itachi?"

* * *

Itachi stepped out of the shower, enjoying the cool air that fluttered against his hot skin. He dried his loose tresses with a towel and combed out the knots with his slender fingers. After a long day of work it felt good to return home and relax, even if it wasn't for very long. As he was walking over to his clothing, he stopped short and looked at his reflection in the mirror. It wasn't something he often did. Truthfully, he could care less about his appearance, but the slight darkening under his eyes and his thinning face was of some concern. After a certain _event_, he decided to take on more ANBU missions, which resulted in him getting less sleep and losing a lot of weight. Maybe he should cut down on the missions, he contemplated.

Just as he was about to begin getting dressed the locked door busted open. He had no time to react, as the culprit had already proceeded to close the door and flicker in front of him. Shisui stood in front of him. He felt his cousin's darks orbs scan his nude body from head to toe until it settled on a very private area. Itachi quickly removed the towel that was draped over his head, almost dropping the white cloth as he wrapped it around his narrow hips.

"Looks like you've grown in more than just height!"

"Do not say such inappropriate things." He sighed heavily, repressing the urge to pinch the bridge of his nose. He took back any nice thing he ever said about Shisui. The man was the most insufferable creature he had ever met.

"What is so important that you had to barge in here and inadvertently break the lock on the door?"

"Obasan is looking for you."

"Well, as you can see I am still in the process of getting dressed. So, if you would, remove yourself."

"You act like I haven't seen you naked before" his shrill laugh filled the small space.

"Yes, the other time you broke the lock on the door."

"I had to. Your mother was looking for you then too. And I wasn't going to tell her to wait and get on her bad side. She is a scary woman."

"I suggest you refrain from speaking about my mother in such an ill manner."

"You know you agree."

"Leave. I will be out shortly."

He didn't.

"Did you know Sakiko-chan is here?"

"Hn."

Uchiha Sakiko was an admirer who confessed her love for him. He didn't have much of an opinion of the girl, other than she was extremely persistent. Although she knew he was not interested in her courtship of him, she continued to try anyway. More importantly, she was a good friend of _someone_ Itachi did not want to think about.

"You know she really likes you, if you really wanted to you could get her to—"

"Shisui!" Itachi had just about lost his patience. There was almost so much blathering someone could do until it became tiresome. "You are taking advantage of my patience and I will not tolerate such inappropriate comments from you. I will say this one more time. Remove yourself from this bathroom or I will remove you myself."

"Ok, ok. No need to get angry. I'm leaving."

Itachi narrowed his eyes and watched him until he left the room. Alone again, he dressed quickly. When he exited the bathroom he found Shisui had been waiting in the hall. It was then he realized Shisui had borrowed his clothing. He wore gray pants and high-collared, short-sleeved black shirt. Itachi had a sundry of these shirts and pants, in fact, it was what he was wearing.

"Hey, we're wearing the same outfit."

"I've noticed."

Itachi went to his room to change. Most of his clothing was dirty except for a blue shirt, the mesh underneath visible from the dip of the v-neck collar. Once he had re-dressed himself, the pair headed toward the living room full of guests.

When they entered the room, he nearly turned back around after he noticed how many people were in attendance. There had to be about thirty or more people crowding his living space. Much more than he anticipated. He remained at the back of the room, not wanting to draw any attention to himself. Unfortunately, that was short-lived.

"There you are!" His mother exclaimed when she caught sight of him. The entire room turned around and stared at him. He pondered a multitude of scenarios that would permit him to escape this current situation.

He had nothing.

Luckily, he realized he was not alone. His younger brother also looked completely miserable. Though to the untrained eye, he may have appeared indifferent, but Itachi knew better. He couldn't blame him. They both despised all forms of attention. But tonight, his brother must have hated it especially. It was his birthday and just about the entire clan was giving him extra consideration because of this reason. Itachi was grateful he had a three week long ANBU mission the month of his twenty-third birthday. His extended absence made it difficult for his mother to plan any form of celebration. The closest they had to one was dinner that included Shisui.

"Come up here, darling. I want you to be hear this."

It must have taken him every muscle in his body to take a step closer and closer to his family. He wasn't walking slow but the trip felt like an eternity. Without looking at the audience he knew all eyes were on him. It was unnerving. He so desperately wanted to use a genjutsu to escape this absurdity. Itachi preferred his privacy and generally stayed out of the view of many people so their focused attention unsettled him.

When he finally reached his family, his eyes met Sasuke's. Their brief contact, told him his brother also had thought about escaping but failed and _Niisan, we need to find a new family._

"Now that all of my family is up here with me. I wanted to thank all of you for being here tonight. It means a lot to us to have you here." She received applause and hurrah from her audience. "Eighteen years ago, I was privileged to become the mother to another child. He was so tiny and fragile and now look at how much he's grown." Nostalgic from the thought, her grip around Sasuke tightened. "I'm sure you don't want to hear about that though…" His mother's voice sounded weak and shaky as she resisted the urge to cry.

"Yes, we do, Mikoto-san!" Naruto shouted in an attempt to make their mother embarrass Sasuke with baby stories. The idiot was just like Shisui. He liked provoking Sasuke just as much as Shisui liked provoking him.

"Oh, Naruto-kun, I'm sure you know the story already! But this celebration is for another reason." She looked over to her husband. "Tell them, Fugaku."

Itachi studied his parents curiously. He certainly did not know of any news and judging by his brother's reaction he wasn't aware either.

"Ah, yes." He grabbed Sasuke's shoulder firmly.

"Sasuke has been promoted to Sergeant of the Konoha Military Police Force. We had several candidates in mind but in the end we felt Sasuke was the best choice for the position. I trust he will pick up where Masumi-san left off and he will help ensure your safety and the safety of Konoha."

Although Itachi was surprised, he felt pride of his little brother swell up in his chest. Sasuke was getting closer to his goal of becoming the Chief of Police. It was a dream he had since he was a little boy. Itachi remembered after Sasuke sprained his ankle from their brief training all those years ago, he gave his little brother a piggyback ride. On their way home, they walked past the Police station and Sasuke told him his dream of becoming an officer like their father one day. How much time had passed since then? Those days had become so distant.

Sasuke's expression was one of stupefaction. The younger Uchiha had joined the military force six years ago after he graduated the academy at thirteen years old. Interestingly, now that he was being promoted to Sergeant it meant he was jumping up several spots in the chain of command. In turn, jumping ahead of many veterans.

As expected, several of his clansmen did not look pleased. Their displeasure was understandable. Many of them had been in the Force for several years longer than Sasuke had. They were also much older and had waited their entire lives for such a promotion. It may have appeared as favoritism since Sasuke was the son of the Chief of police, however, while Sasuke did not have their outstanding experience, he certainly surpassed many of them in skill and strength in his few short years than they had in a lifetime.

Nevertheless, from their blatant infuriated expressions, he would have to keep a closer eye on them. This many upset people could never be a good thing.

* * *

After the announcement the party continued. Sakura and her group of friends stayed inside while many of the other guests went to other rooms or outside of the house.

Sasuke and Naruto approached her and Sai. They both looked extremely ecstatic over the news. Naruto and Sasuke had been friends since they were babies and when either one of them was successful at something they both celebrated. Sakura had grown close to them during their time as Team 7, but she never could quite have the relationship they had with each other. She somewhat envied it.

They sat back down at the short table and it wasn't long before the two girls came back to join him. She still didn't know their names. It was rather annoying not being able to hang around Sasuke like they used to. He was always busy or had girls hanging around him and he was too polite to tell them to go away. They each gave him a hug and one of them had actually gave him a gift. It was a necklace with Uchiha clan symbol on it.

Naruto looked at her and Sai with a giant grin across his face. "Did you guys hear? Sasuke is going to be the Sergeant of the Police!" He exclaimed stupidly.

"They heard, dobe."

"Congratulations, duck head."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at him almost evilly. "Thanks, Sai."

"I'm happy for you, Sasuke-kun."

He smiled sincerely. "Thank you, Sakura."

Time had flown by so fast. Just last month Naruto had announced he was going to become a mentor of a genin team like Kakashi sensei was for them. Sai had joined the ANBU unit under the Hokage. And now Sasuke was becoming the Sergeant of the Police Force. She was happy for her friends but now she wondered what her plans were. Her men had essentially left her behind. While she trained with the legendary Tsunade-sama, acquired exceptional skills and was one of the top kunoichi in Konoha, she still hadn't really thought of any plans.

When she didn't go on missions, she worked at the hospital. Healing the sick and injured was her specialty, after all. But she strived for more and she possessed the skills to do so. She was a jonin and could become a mentor like Naruto, but it wasn't something she desired. She wanted something more challenging.

Her emerald orbs darted back and forth between her friends as she thought about their commendable accomplishments. She was not going to remain in their shadow.

* * *

After his mother's announcement Itachi and Shisui walked over to the kitchen that was attached to the room. Sasuke and his friends were the only people remaining, more than likely chatting about his promotion.

Shisui flickered across the room to Sasuke's group, the women that were with Sasuke, greeted him excitedly. His cousin was popular with many people. Especially women. In fact, the very few relationships Itachi had, had commenced because of Shisui. His cousin always had some strange urgency to get him girlfriends. Of course, they were never serious and never lasted long.

Shisui turned his attention to Sasuke's former teammate and draped his arm around her shoulders. "Saku-chan, You look more beautiful than you did last time I saw you."

"Hi, Shisui-san" she deadpanned; the girl was not affected by Shisui's charm. Perhaps he wasn't popular with all women.

"I'm still waiting for that date."

"Leave her alone, Shisui." Sasuke warned him.

"I'm not doing any harm Sasuke-_chan_. I'm just admiring your teammate's beauty."

Itachi walked passed the group and retrieved the bento box of onigiri his mother left in the refrigerator. He hadn't eaten since breakfast and he was glad his mother saved leftovers of his favorite meal. Once he grabbed the container, he headed towards his room, but his efforts were halted when Shisui popped up in front of him. He wasn't known as 'Shisui the Flicker' for nothing. His cousin gripped his wrists wrists and started to drag him to the table where Sasuke was seated.

"What is the meaning of this, Shisui?"

"We can't be rude to your guests. Why don't we sit with them?"

"They are not my guests."

"Itachi-san." A soft voice called for him.

His head turn and caught sight of a familiar face. Now, he caught wind of what Shisui was trying to do. Sakiko was had been hanging around Sasuke and his friends all night, since her cousin was enamored by his little brother. It was only time that his cousin would try and push him towards her.

"Sakiko-san."

"You know you can just call me Sakiko, Itachi-san. There's no need to be so formal." She looked a little different than he remembered. It had been some time since he saw her last, perhaps many weeks ago. Her coal black hair had been cropped just above her chin, it was shorter now but it suited her thin face.

"Please join us."

In all honestly, he did not want to join them. If he had the choice he wouldn't have gone to this ridiculous gathering in the first place. Unfortunately, he couldn't leave and his mother had taught him to be a gentleman, so he reluctantly accepted her offer.

When he sat down his brother gave him a confused look.

"Niisan?"

"Sasuke."

Itachi had never hung around Sasuke or his friends. In fact, he hardly hung around with anyone that wasn't Shisui. People were tiresome and usually brought unnecessary trouble. Plus, solitude was enjoyable.

He was grateful he was seated at the far end of the table. This made it easier to leave unnoticed when he was done with his meal. As he silently ate, he listened to their mundane conversations. They spoke about the lantern festival, the team of genin Naruto had been assigned, Sasuke's promotion, Kurenai's baby (This he was actually interested in. He needed to pay her a visit sometime soon) and finally Shisui and Naruto argued about which shop had the best ramen.

Throughout their various conversations, the group paid no attention to him except for Sakiko. The girl was pressed closely against his side, a bit too close for comfort. It wasn't that he had not been this close to the opposite sex. Truthfully, he actually had been _a lot_ closer before, in spite of that, he was not particularly fond of close proximity with those he had no relation with. This female was hardly an acquaintance. He wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she didn't want to sit too closely to Shisui who also sat beside her. As a genius, though, he knew better and her reasons were clear.

When it came to getting Itachi to do things he was reluctant to do, Shisui would almost always make him budge. Really, the guy could be impossible to deal with at times, but he was always polite and because of his politeness he could be coaxed into doing things he didn't want to. Such as joining them at the table because he was too courteous to decline Sakiko's invitation.

Despite his constant teasing of his cousin, he truly cared about his happiness. After Itachi's last relationship, Shisui felt it was up to him to find Itachi someone else. Whether it was serious or platonic did not matter. Truthfully, the last time Itachi had displayed any type of emotion remotely close to being happy was when he was with _her _and they both know how that turned out_._ Right now, Sakiko would be the best choice since she was obviously smitten with him.

From his peripheral vision, Shisui looked at Itachi. His admirer was close against him. If Itachi had been more outgoing, all he had to do was drape his arm around the girl and she would melt in his lap. But, his cousin was difficult and would never do such a thing. He was a genius in almost every subject except when it came to women. _Instead I have to do all the work for him, _he mulled.

He looked to right when the Sasuke's teammate spoke.

"So…are you girls kunoichi?" Sakura questioned the girls at the table. They stared at her like she had three heads.

Being an Uchiha, Shisui knew how their clan wasn't very open to others. In fact, a lot of Uchiha discriminated against people outside of the clan. He found the act juvenile, but he bore in mind that many of his clansmen were old fashioned and still regarded the clan as superior to all people.

"No. We're not." Sakiko answered. "Aren't kunoichi's practically useless?"

Sakura's eyes widened and then narrowed immediately. The words struck in her in a way that she looked like she was going to explode.

"Kunoichi are not useless. We work just as hard as men do and we—"

This time the girl, Yasuko, who had been with Sasuke all night spoke. Yasuko was quite a big deal being the granddaughter of the grand elder of their clan. Some people had actually referred to her as princess because of this reason. From what Shisui had heard around the compound the elders wanted her to marry Sasuke. Though, Sasuke had still not known about the plans to make Yasuko his potential bride. With her status around the compound it would actually benefit Sasuke, especially now that he probably made enemies with his promotion. Knowing his little cousin, he wouldn't like the idea of marriage anytime soon.

"Aren't you a medic?" her inquiry was malice.

"Yes, but I'm also a jonin."

"Last time I checked, that wasn't the same as working in the Police Force or ANBU."

"That doesn't mean I don't possess the same skills as my team members. Just like them I contributed to our battles and have even saved them several times" the volume in Sakura's voice had raised and her anger became obvious.

"I find it hard to believe that Sasuke-kun and the son of the Yodaime would need assistance. Besides, Sasuke-kun is one of the top shinobi. He was taught by Fugaku-sama."

Yasuko was clearly being condensing. In all honesty, the girl probably found Sakura as a threat.

"...And I was taught by a legendary sannin. I'm still a Konoha shinobi just like them."

"We don't doubt that you possess certain skills, but when it comes down to it, the men are mostly to thank. Kunoichi are second at best."

The room had become quiet and everyone watched the heated exchange between the women. Even Itachi had looked on with interest. The girls glared daggers at each other. He could tell Sakura was infuriated from her fluctuating chakra. But no one said anything, the silence was suffocating. Shisui felt uncharacteristically awkward sitting between the two women. Normally he liked when people bickered, as it provided good entertainment. Though, their insults were too much. Uchiha women could be rabid dogs when they wanted.

Despite having the strength to knock both of their heads off, Sakura hardly defended herself. It was opposite from the loud mouth, tough girl he was used to, but he had an idea why she was acting this way. The tension between Uchiha and non-Uchiha had become higher recently. Lately, some of their clansmen had become more separated from Konoha. Everyone knew that and it was an issue the Yodaime was desperately trying to sort out. From what Shisui heard, certain clans wanted the Uchiha defected from Konoha. Sakura was a smart girl and she knew arguing back with the girl prove to be problematic.

Many moments went by before a smooth, mellow voice that disrupted the silence caught everyone off guard.

"Haruno is a very capable shinobi. If she is expected to demonstrate her skills to prove her worth, then she already has done so." Itachi declared, his attention was still on his food in front of him.

Shisui could have sworn he heard sounds of jaws dropping to the ground. His cousin hardly spoke to anyone, let alone involved himself in arguments, in fact he usually would take these moment to escape whenever there were arguments during clan meetings.

As far as he knew, Itachi had never had any missions with Sakura, so how did he know of her skills? Sasuke never praised anyone so it couldn't be him, so then how? Shisui looked over to Sakura who was staring disbelievingly at Itachi. She was probably wondering the same thing. Her face slightly tinged the same color as her red shirt.

Sakiko cleared her throat almost inaudibly. "Y-yes. You're right, Itachi-san."

Shisui's gaze returned back to the pink-haired kunoichi to his right. A triumphant smile was stretched across her face. His dark orbs flicked back and forth from Itachi, who was still eating his meal, and Sakura who was no longer smiling but still somewhat crimson.

Then suddenly the wildest idea flashed in his mind.

* * *

_**Just in case you were wondering, just because I mentioned that Yasuko and Sakiko are Uchiha, it doesn't mean they are directly related. I'm not talking about incest, they don't have to be directly related to have the same last name or be in the same clan. **_

_**Thank you for reading! If you have the time, review and let me know what you think.**_


	2. Medic

**A/N: _First of all_, it has been a very long time since I last updated. My aunt who I was very close to passed away at the time I started this story last year. It was hard to do anything so I had to put this story on hold for a long time. It has been a year and things are still hard but I figured I would give this a shot again and finish this after all.**

**Regarding the story: I must admit it felt a little odd writing this. We don't know how Shisui acted in canon, except for one part, but I'm not sure if he always acted that way or was only acting in such a manner because things were going downhill for the Uchiha clan. Personally I would love for him to have been a goofy kind of guy, especially since canon Itachi was so serious. It would have been nice for Shisui to bring a playful side into his life and thus I made Shisui act this way in this story. Itachi is my main guy, I have to surround him with people who make his life lighter in an AU seeing as he doesn't get that in canonverse. Anyway, while I do make Shisui kind of a goofball, he is still highly intelligent and absolutely caring, he's just a little bit of a black sheep of the Uchiha clan, in the sense that he doesn't act like he has a stick up his rear.**

**Anyway, this chapter in specific is on the lighter, playful side. I assure you it won't always be like this. So enjoy the lighter moments while you can!**

**Beta: No beta, so many apologies for any mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Sadly.**

* * *

It was still dark outside when he woke. The moon hung low and the crickets still sung their song of slumber. He typically did not wake up this early unless he had to train or a mission called for it, but the Hokage had requested his team in and thus he had awoken early.

At one point, many of their missions had started at this time, but his cousin, Shisui, begged the Hokage for assignments that did not begin so early. In all honestly, Itachi was also glad for later missions because they usually got him out of attending clan meetings. If he had to hear the elders insist he get a wife and reproduce when he was still young and spry one more time, he may just have to flee from Konoha and become a missing nin.

Not that he _ever_ would, but at times it was tempting.

Itachi slid the shoji door of his room open when the faint glow of the kitchen light towed him in. He probed further into his home and found his father drinking tea alone at their dining table. Fugaku looked up, his obsidian eyes met his own. The older man's expression was almost unreadable but he held his gaze.

"Itachi." The older Uchiha spoke, disrupting their brief staring contest. "Sit."

Knowing that he had more than enough time before he needed to report to the Hokage, Itachi inclined his head in kind gesture and sat down at the low table across from his father. Unless it was necessary, he and his father only shared few words. Fugaku was proud of his achievements, Itachi knew that much. Not only had he become the youngest ANBU member in history, but he was the only member of the clan to join Konoha's elite shinobi. Because he had been accepted into ANBU, the clan's elders dubbed him as lead candidate for the title of heir. Unlike most clans, the Uchiha clan wanted their members to prove their worth and basically fight for the position. Truth be told, he could care less about being the clan heir. He was perfectly content with the idea of protecting others without ordering them around.

If there was anyone who should have been be heir, it was Shisui. Not only was he a skilled shinobi but he was also very spirited. His cousin could speak to anyone and win them over with his charm. Shisui was just born to lead. It really made no sense to pick anyone else.

Of course when Itachi voiced this opinion to his father, the older Uchiha was not happy about it. Fugaku continued to urge him to show the elders that he should be the rightful heir, in turn, Itachi picked up more missions to avoid his father's demands. As far as he could tell, Fugaku did not realize the reason he was suddenly on so many missions was to avoid him. The older man did realize that his eldest son's frequent absence sparked concern within the clan elders and soon he started focusing his attention elsewhere. His father's dreams that were once pinned on him now fell on Sasuke. It was the reason their father urged Sasuke to enter the Force at thirteen and as far as his father was concerned, Sasuke showed more dedication to the clan than Itachi ever had. Itachi sighed inwardly. The last thing he wanted was for Sasuke to feel the stress he had pinned on him his entire life. Much to his surprise, however, Sasuke had shown a genuine interest in being the clan heir and so Itachi decided to stay out of it. If it made his brother happy then he would accept the idea, even if he didn't like it.

"Are you reporting to the Hokage this morning?" The twin lines that slashed down his face had become more prominent due to age and stress. Itachi had inherited these similar grooves on his own face, and briefly wondered if his would one day deepen like his fathers.

"Yes." He answered immediately.

The older Uchiha nodded before walking over to the kitchen and grabbing an extra porcelain teacup. He returned to the table and poured the hot tea from the kettle into the blue porcelain cup. The stern expression etched on his father's face softened a bit and with two hands, he handed the porcelain to Itachi. The interaction almost seemed foreign. His father had hardly spoken to him in years lest invited him for a cup of tea. There was something on the older Uchiha's mind. Itachi knew that much, but what it was, was unclear.

With both hands Itachi brought the ceramic cup to his mouth. He sipped on the tea, instinctively closing his eyes as he savored the hot, minty beverage. His father's tea was some of the best he had ever had. Admittedly it was better than his mother's, but that was something he would never tell her.

"I didn't get to speak to you after our announcement last weekend." It was true, after Sasuke's gathering the week before, he had barely seen his family at all. Aside from his own missions, his father worked every day of the week. The man practically lived at the Police Headquarters. "What do you make of it?"

Itachi set his teacup down with a _clink_ and fixated his gaze on the man before him. A few thoughts occurred to him. Since the particular news about Sasuke's promotion, the possibility that some clan members may cause problems kept knocking at the back of his mind. He had a nagging feeling that there was some kind of problem. Surely if enough members were angry about it, it would cause a divide between the clan. But Itachi decided not to say such things, yet anyway. It would be best to wait to see where his father steered the conversation before saying anything.

"I think the promotion is well deserved." He answered with practice ease, making sure not reveal there were other thoughts swirling in his mind.

"That is all?" Fugaku studied him, searching for any crease or wrinkle in his brow that suggested there was something hidden behind his answer.

"Is there something you would like me to say?" Itachi asked, waiting for his father to come out with some expected revelation. He had an inkling that someone had stressed to his father that promoting Sasuke might prove to be problematic.

"I am just curious what you think of your brother being promoted to such a position at his age."

"Are you questioning your decision?"

"I am not. Sasuke is the perfect choice to not only take the position but to lead this clan." His father snapped. It was rather clear he was indirectly referring that Sasuke was the better choice and not he. Though from the sudden shift in his temper, he had a notion that his father did not actually believe that was so.

"There may be some members of the clan who are not willing to accept this decision." He replied reluctantly. Although he wanted to investigate his clansmen's actions on his own, he knew he would have to speak to Fugaku eventually. He may as well do it when his father offered him the opportunity. After all, he wasn't one to usually begin conversations with people, especially his father.

"I thought so too." The older Uchiha paused for a moment and for the first time in his life, Itachi witnessed something unfamiliar cross his father's features. Worry. It was so fleeting, had it been anyone untrained in reading people, they wouldn't have noticed.

"Perhaps you should talk to Sasuke about this matter." Itachi suggested.

"You are my eldest son...and I value your input." He said hesitatingly, almost sounding regretful of his words. His father was a proud man saying such things was almost unheard of.

Itachi nodded once. As he surmised, he was not the only one who had received word that the clan members were not happy with his father's choice. If the clan had a problem with his little brother then they would have deal with him. He wouldn't let anyone harm Sasuke in any way and would eliminate any threat, even if it were a member of his own clan.

Once the conversation had steered into this direction, Itachi knew the discussion they were having was over. He felt a little relieved he had to depart for the meeting with the Yondaime. The relationship he had with his father was so strained, it was almost exhausting being in his presence.

"I must set off." Itachi announced and his father nodded absentmindedly. With that, he strolled out of the room, leaving his the older Uchiha to his thoughts.

* * *

Shisui had been waiting outside of Itachi's home for what seemed to be an eternity. Finally after some time, his cousin emerged from the house, looking as stoic as ever. The pair sprinted off in the direction of the Hokage tower. Moments later, they reached their destination. He and Itachi entered the vibrant, red building where they found Muta had been waiting for them indoors. The trio walked silently up the flight of stairs until they reached the Hokage's office. Minato was sitting behind his wooden desk, looking up momentarily from his paperwork to greet them. The trio stood before him and he briefed them about their meeting.

"How is Migaki?" the Hokage queried, to which Muta replied.

"He is still recovering. The poison had affected him worse than we originally thought."

The Yondaime nodded thoughtfully. "I was afraid that might have been the case. I read his report and it indicated such a result." He opened the drawer of his desk and handed a file to Itachi. "That is a list of medics that have applied for an opening if there was ever one in ANBU. I trust you and your team can make its own decision in finding a medic, Itachi."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." Itachi answered respectfully. "Have you received any additional information about the disappearances?"

"Jiraiya-sama has sent confirmation that it's not just our country dealing with this terrible situation." Minato frowned slightly. "Unfortunately, I won't be able to send your squad out until you secure a medic. Since the situation out there is still unknown, we can't risk anything happening to any of you."

The whole situation was very odd. It was understandable to kidnap shinobi but why so many civilians were taken was almost unexplainable. Shisui wondered if the Nara genius had come up with any theories regarding the situation. With his and Itachi's intellect they surely should be able to come up with something.

The Hokage continued. "The medic you choose will accompany your squad until Migaki is well enough to return to active duty. You have until tomorrow to make a decision."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." The trio answered in unison. They bowed in respect and left the building.

By the time the meeting had finished, the sun had already begun to rise. Deciding they were hungry and needed to make a decision about a medic soon, they ambled towards a restaurant a short distance from the Hokage tower.

Shisui eyed the folder Itachi gripped loosely in his hand. They needed to secure a medic and he knew Sasuke's pink-haired teammate was regarded as one of the best in the village. He smirked. The opportunity to bring Itachi and Sasuke's teammate together was coming along easier than he could ever imagine. He remembered the night his cousin had defended the pink-haired kunoichi. It was so uncharacteristic of Itachi that he felt he was more than right about pushing the two together. Granted he thought he was right about all of the girls he introduced Itachi to, but _this_ was different. He was certain this time! How did that saying go, again? _Third, no, sixth time's a charm._ This would be the sixth time he would set Itachi up with someone, it was bound to work out this time! It was terrible Migaki had gotten injured but really this had to be set up by the gods. The first step in his plan presented itself wrapped in the finest paper with the largest bow.

When their team arrived at the restaurant, they were pleased to see they were alone in the establishment save for the workers. It was, after all, still early, and the breakfast crowd had yet to come. This particular restaurant was more casual than the traditional ones Mikoto often dragged them to. It was a good thing too since they were dressed in their ANBU uniforms.

At that moment, a cute waitress led them to their own table in a detached room. This was one of the perks of being a shinobi. The profession was regarded so highly among civilians, they were often given special treatment. While he didn't think he was anything special, it was nice being treated so kindly by most people.

Itachi sat directly across from him, while Muta sat at the end of the table. From the corner of his eye, he stared at the folder Itachi had laid on the table. He waited for his cousin to bring up the topic, but of course, he sat stiffly and silently and not at all broaching the subject.

"So…" Shisui hummed. "Who are we going to choose as our medic?"

"I have yet to inspect the candidates." Itachi responded expressionless as he read the menu to the restaurant instead.

"_Hm_."

Itachi's obsidian orbs met his, attempting to interpret the meaning of his curt response. "Do you have a candidate in mind?"

"I might." His tone sounded disinterested. Itachi was smart but Shisui knew him well enough to fall off his radar. If he was too enthusiastic his cousin might catch on.

Itachi's eyebrow lifted inquisitively. "Whom?"

Shisui reached for the folder and shuffled through the paperwork until he found the pages of the candidates. After thoroughly looking through each of the pages, he realized the one person he expected to see was absent from that list. He felt a flare of irritation and rise in his chest

"...not here," he mumbled and slid the folder toward his cousin. Itachi searched through the discarded folder, read quickly through the names and short descriptions of each of the candidates.

"These are none of the medics you had in mind?" The younger Uchiha inquired, still inspecting the shinobi listed.

"No."

"Well, then whom did you have in mind?" Itachi's response, ebbing on the edge of curiosity.

"Definitely none of _these _medics." He said, not all meaning to sound condescending, but surely it came out that way. Truthfully he didn't think negatively about the medics on the list provided. Really, they were very well trained, but they weren't _the_ medic he was looking for. How awfully frustrating.

"_Shisui_." Itachi sounded displeased. He was not someone who tolerated speaking negatively of others.

"Listen, Itachi. Migaki is a good medic, but we saw what happened last time. What if we were ambushed and we needed to be healed? We couldn't because our medic went down before we did. We can't rely on someone like that."

"It is curious that Migaki was assaulted so quickly." Muta added.

Shisui mentally patted him on the back for his help. He could always count on Muta! Itachi stared at him impassively. More than likely he was deliberating his team's input. _Good. _Regardless of his plan to hook his cousin up with a certain pink-haired medic, the situation with Migaki was discomforting. He never really trusted the man before, there was always something…off about him. Migaki trained and went on missions often, but there was no denying that compared to the rest of his team he paled in comparison. The man was had some combat skill, but being their medic he was expected to fight only if he was the last living man of his team, yet he easily failed that task on their most recent mission.

The waitress walked over at that moment and took their orders. They each ordered a light breakfast. They usually trained early mornings and it was no good training on a full stomach. After taking their orders, the waitress left them alone again, leaving them to discuss their situation again.

"Do you have another suggestions?" Itachi queried once more. Certainly he caught on that Shisui had someone specific in mind.

"Perhaps Sasuke's teammate, Haruno Sakura." Shisui said with disinterest, but really he felt much glee at the thought.

"Haruno?" Itachi echoed, it was more of a statement than a question.

"She is one of the best medics in Konoha." Sakura, after all, was a bit of a legend around Konoha. The girl had begun working at the hospital when she only 14 years old. Shisui had the privilege of witnessing her in action a couple of times. She was truly remarkable. Shisui smiled. Haruno Sakura was really one of a kind.

After years of being with the same team, everything had become so monotonous and predictable. Migaki usually annoyed him with his arrogance. Muta was always nice but at times, a little creepy and Itachi... _Oh, Itachi_. Shisui loved his cousin and while he was intelligent and at times could be interesting, being around him for many years taught Shisui that sometimes it was more fun staring at a rock. It would be nice to have Sakura as a new addition to their team. Not to mention she was more than nice to look at.

Muta nodded in agreement. "She is a fine kunoichi, as well."

"So, have we made a decision?" He asked enthusiastically.

"It is a notion we must discuss with the Yondaime." Itachi's lips thinned in a line. He was not one to look for loopholes in protocol. If the Yondaime only provided them with specific candidates, then Itachi would only go with those suggested.

"I'm sure, he'll agree, Itachi. He is a reasonable man." Shisui turned his attention to their bespectacled teammate. "Muta, go send your bugs to tell the Hokage of our decision." He joked. He was in a cheerful mood all of a sudden, strangely enough, the thought of the pink-haired kunoichi brightened his spirits.

"That is not possible." The Aburame chuckled and pushed up his glasses up to the bridge of his nose.

"Why not?" He whined.

"You are anthropomorphizing insects," Itachi's baritone voice was almost mocking. It was times like this that Shisui was reminded that even Itachi had a sense of humor. Albeit a terrible one, but it was still there. He wasn't the scary shinobi everyone thought he was.

"Ok, fine. We'll talk to him after breakfast. But when he agrees, just like I say he will, you better come with me to inform her."

Itachi said nothing, but he knew his cousin accepted the challenge.

* * *

Sakura nearly jumped out of her skin when a loud thud shook her from her slumber. There were a series of insistent knocks at her front door. Cursing loudly, she leapt off out of her tall bed. Just her luck. The one day she could sleep in, some imbecile had to come and wake her up.

Cursing under her breath, Sakura opened the door to find a very vexed and disheveled Ino. There were blonde locks loose from her usually tight ponytail and streaks of dirt were smeared across her face and attire.

"You look awful, pig," Sakura remarked, taking in her friend's appearance as the blonde pushed passed her way into the apartment.

"You're one to talk, forehead."

Sakura looked down at her clothing and noticed she was only wearing a large shirt she had borrowed from Kakashi after a mission a couple of years ago. The shirt fit her almost the way it did back then. It was large and droopy and ended mid-thigh. Not to mention their were holes forming in it from all the wear and tear it had sustained over the years.

"You look like an child wearing her fathers shirt." Ino teased.

Self-consciously, Sakura swept long strands of pink hair in front of her chest and wrapped her arms around her small breasts. Except for her petal colored hair, she really hadn't grown _anywhere_ since she was 16. She was still so very petite and it seemed like she had no chance of ever growing. She cursed her genes. While all her friends were developing into women, her appearance seemed to stay the same. Sakura guessed she should have expected as much, it was a trait she inherited from her mother, after all. Women at the hospital would always say, _'Oh don't worry, when_ _you're older, you're going to be thrilled you look so young,' _or _'Every man will jump at the chance to have such a youthful looking bride'. _Blah, she heard it all and she was tired of it.

"Why are you here?" Her attention returned to her friend. It wasn't everyday her friend came in to visit, or judging by her irritated mood, _bother_ her.

"I needed someone to vent to." Ino huffed and flopped onto her beige couch. "That girl is just so awful!"

Sakura closed the door and sat in the arm of the her couch. She didn't have to guess _which_ girl Ino was talking about. "Karin?"

"Yeah. _Her_."

Karin Uzumaki had recently moved to the village a few months ago. Being one of the remaining Uzumaki and Kushina's second cousin, she moved to Konoha to live with her last remaining relatives. The girl had a loud mouth and could be rude at times, but she was helpful and quite skilled. Unfortunately, she didn't get along well with most of the other medics and she often got under their skin. Ino was a prime example of people who suffered from Karin Uzumaki's presence.

"What happened?"

The blonde let out a long drawn out sigh, attempting to get her nerves under control.

"It's a long story. Let's just say it ended with me tumbling into a dirt pit." Sakura tried everything in her power not to laugh. The image of Ino rolling down a pit was just too amusing. She could practically see it, blonde hair whipping this way and that way. It certainly explained the dirt streaks on her clothing and messy hair. _  
_

The blonde crossed her arms. "Sakura, we _need_ to do something about her."

"She's related to Kushina-sama."

"Maybe if we get her a boyfriend or something, we can get her out of our hair."

"_No_. I'm not getting involved!" She waved her arms in protest. After Ino had persuaded, no, _forced_ her into helping her play matchmaker for Choji, she would never get involved with anyone's love life again! The portly shinobi nearly destroyed a restaurant, when his very unfortunate date called him fat. She could only imagine how disastrous a date could be if Karin was involved.

"Besides, the only person she seems interested in is Sasuke-kun." Sakura added.

"No way! Not Sasuke-kun." Ino nearly lunged at her, almost knocking her off the arm of the couch.

"You're with Shikamaru." Sakura informed as if the blonde had already forgotten her relationship with the Nara genius. Though, it would be hard to forget something like that. After all, Sakura did have the displeasure on walking in on the pair half dressed and lying in a very compromising position. She shuddered. The awful image was forever burned into her memories.

"That doesn't mean she should have Sasuke," The blonde shouted, "and don't give me that look, you had your strange fling with Kiba!"

"We never got as far as you and Shikamaru did!" The emerald eyed kunoichi shouted defensively. Her face began to burn from embarrassment. It was true she had some brief involvement with Kiba, it didn't last long and it didn't go very far, thankfully. He was funny and admittedly…had an amazing body, but he didn't challenge her intellectually and at times he could be rather immature. They had became closer friends as result of their brief romance, so she supposed it wasn't too bad of an result.

"Whatever." Ino shook her had. "It would be a disaster if she dated Sasuke-kun. It's almost a wonder how she's related to Kushina- sama, shes so kind and sweet!" Naruto's mother was a sweet woman, but she could be downright scary when she was angry. She could definitely see the relation between her and Karin.

"I just really think she loves Sasuke-kun." Sakura shrugged.

"Who's in love with Sasuke-kun?" A deep voice queried and she and Ino leapt like frightened felines. Quickly, they looked over to where the voice had come from and found none other than Uchiha Shisui peering into the window. How incredibly odd. "Can I come in?" He asked, taking Sakura's stunned silence as a 'yes,' he hopped into the apartment through the window.

"Why are you here?" The emerald eyed medic demanded once she finally gained her composure.

"It's not just me." He beamed, pointing behind him with his thumb. "Itachi's here too!" Sakura's countenance transitioned from utter confusion to horror in an instant. Almost on cue, there was a slow knock at the door. Shisui walked to her front door, pulling it open to reveal the tall, older brother of her teammate.

"Itachi-san…" She trailed off, not sure what to make of his appearance. She felt comfortable enough around Shisui to talk to him as she did, but Itachi was a different story. She had known Itachi ever since she was a young girl, but they only shared few words. He was just always so intimidating it seemed nearly impossible to have a proper chat with him. Admittedly, his distant personality had made her naturally curious about the man, but never enough to approach him, unless she absolutely had to, such as the few times he was admitted to the hospital. She just figured it was best if he remained an enigma.

Itachi nodded at her and Ino in acknowledgement, before taking a short step into her apartment. "My apologies for my cousin's intrusion, as well as my own. May we have a moment of your time?" He asked in his smooth, baritone voice. It amazed her how polite the older Uchiha sibling could be compared to his gruff younger brother. Regardless, it wasn't hard to understand why they both had so many fangirls.

Sakura cleared her throat. "What is it?" His dark eyes connected with her emerald ones. His gaze was so intense it suddenly made her feel exposed. She clumsily tugged at the end of her shirt to cover the rest of her bare thighs. Just her luck, her two unlikely visitors would stop by when she and Ino looked like hell. Luckily neither of the Uchiha men had taken notice of what she or Ino was wearing. If it had been Naruto or Sai they would have made some immature comment by now and she would have punched them so hard they would have flown into Iwa. But as far she knew, Uchiha's could care less about anyone that wasn't in their clan. For once she was grateful for their haughty trait.

"We require a shinobi skilled in medicine to temporarily assist our squad."

"Yeah, Migaki was injured, so we're out a medic." Shisui added, plucking an apple from the bowl of fruit on her table, before taking a large bite out of the juicy red fruit.

Once she realized where the conversation was headed, her embarrassment subsided and her curiosity kicked in. There were several ANBU medics they could recruit. Not to mention she never applied for ANBU.

"Why me?"

Itachi took no time to consider her question, it was as if he was waiting for it. "We had pondered over several choices for candidates and feel that you are the most advanced in your field of expertise."

"I see." She replied mindfully. This week had been strange. She often was complimented for her advanced abilities, but to be complimented by Uchiha Itachi, _twice_, within the last week was a new world record. If she wasn't blushing before, she definitely was now.

"So, do you accept?" Shisui asked, for some reason, he sounded very eager to hear her response.

Though the opportunity sounded good, she had other priorities that she needed to take care of. She already had been expected at the hospital this week and they could always find another medic. Right? She felt a feeling nagging at her senses. Passing up this opportunity felt wrong. If she had learned anything from her time being a part of Team 7, it was that she should always strive for greater opportunities. Joining an ANBU squad was easily an opportunity she could not get everyday. Over the years it had become so difficult to join because there had been no use for a copious amount of ANBU members. But still, she had high hopes for joining whenever the time needed it. After all she didn't train under a legendary Sannin for years, to simply never put her skills to use. She was a shinobi, it was in her blood to fight to help her village.

"You do not need to accept if you are unwilling or unable." Itachi informed, after her long bout of silence. It was as if he sensed she was facing an internal struggle.

"I just need some time to think about it." She responded.

"Your decision is not required presently. If you choose to cooperate with us, you have until tomorrow morning to report to the Hokage. Now if we may excuse ourselves." Itachi gestured toward his cousin and soon after left her small apartment.

"Can't wait to have you join us Sakura-chan!" Shisui grinned and started to follow after his cousin. Just as he was almost out of the door, the older Uchiha stopped in his tracks and looked over to Ino. The blonde practically shrunk under his gaze, blonde hair strewn everywhere from her disastrous accident in the pit earlier that morning. "Ino-chan, I like your hair like that." He said with a wide grin, leaving Ino completely mortified and Sakura chuckling at her poor friend's expense.

* * *

Sakura met with Naruto and Sasuke at Ichiraku's for lunch. Spending time together seldom ever came, so whenever they did have the time, they would usually spend it together.

"Sakura-chan!" A familiar voice called from behind her.

She whirled around and as she expected, Naruto was running towards her. Sasuke was in tow a few steps behind him. The blonde shinobi lifted her up in a bear hug before setting her back down. The trio sat down at their usual spots at Ichiraku's. They each ordered a bowl of ramen and briefly Sakura wondered what Kushina would do if she knew Naruto was eating ramen instead of her cooking again. The trio chatter amiably among themselves and luckily for Naruto in particular, Ayame, an Ichiraku waitress, handed them each their bowl of food moments later. Naruto being Naruto, did not hesitate to dive in. He practically inhaled his entire first bowl in one gulp. Other patrons at Ichiraku stared at the blondes ramen consuming abilities with astonishment.

"Teme, when are you going to start working?" Naruto asked his dark haired best friend, with a mouth full of the contents of his second bowl of ramen.

"I should be transitioned into the position by the end of next week." Sasuke answered, his attention focused on the food in front of him, eating in his usual meticulous manner.

"Are you going to work longer hours, Sasuke?" Sakura questioned before eating her own food. She hardly saw her team enough as it was, she could only imagine what it would be like once he started working or once the Uchiha clan started pushing him towards marriage.

"My father says I will." The Uchiha confirmed.

If she didn't know him as well as she did, she might think he sounded uninterested in his new position. But Sasuke answering questions so openly could only mean he was quite content with recent events. It made her feel extremely proud of her teammate. He worked so hard to get where he was and in such a short time he had come so far.

The group became silent as they began to each eat their own bowl of ramen. Sitting together like this reminded her of how much time had passed since they were a team going on missions with Kakashi. These thoughts always made her feel nostalgic. It was a time they would never get back and as time went on they only drifted further apart. Maybe it was something that happened to everyone as they aged; after all it wasn't just their team that grew apart. It was a little selfish, but she hated that she couldn't see her friends as often as she used to. Hell, she already hardly saw Sai, and couldn't remember the last time she saw Kakashi.

Their former teacher had gotten married while they were still a team. She had never seen him look so happy. Part of her always wondered if she would ever find a man that cared about her, the way Kakashi cared about Rin. As if on cue, a shock of silver hair slumped into the unoccupied stool by Sasuke.

"Kaka-sensei!" She and Naruto exclaimed in unison.

"Yo," He greeted them kindly. From behind his mask, she could tell he was smiling. Taking in his appearance, she noticed he was dressed in civilian clothing. After all this time it still seemed strange to see him dressed as such.

"How is my favorite team?" The older shinobi questioned.

"Great!" The Uzumaki shouted, "Sasuke got–" The Uzumaki's speech suddenly stopped as Sakura's hand lightly crashed into the back of his head, shutting him up from saying anything further. Naruto pouted but understood her reasoning for it. After all, it was Sasuke's news, no matter how excited he was about it! With Naruto nursing his non-existent injury with exaggerated care, Sasuke informed their sensei about his very exciting news.

"Well done, Sasuke," Kakashi patted her raven-haired teammate's back. It was weird almost, how much Kakashi had changed once he got married and had a child. He went from being late and sometimes lazy, to actually quite happy and open.

"Sakura?" Kakashi's tenor shook her from her thoughts. "How are things with you?" She looked up to find her teammates staring at her with some curiosity. Truth be told, she really hadn't had much going on in her life. Things at the hospital were unusually slow, which she was grateful for because it meant less of her comrades were getting injured on missions but other than that not much at all. The event of her morning sprung in her mind. Itachi-san and Shisui had asked her to be the medic of their ANBU team. She hadn't accepted yet, but she was really considering it. In fact it was the only interesting thing that had occurred to her in months. She looked over at Sasuke who was eyeing her.

"Er, your brother and your cousin asked if I wanted to be their medic."

Sasuke almost dropped his chopsticks at the revelation, while Naruto choked on the noodles in his mouth. Fortunately, Kakashi hadn't reacted.

"WHAT!" her whiskered face teammate shouted so loudly that the Raikage in Kumo probably heard it.

"What?" a pink brow sprung up in irritation.

It was then that Sasuke who spoke. "My brother, Itachi, asked you to be his squad's medic?"

"...Yes."

"But you're not in ANBU..." Sasuke pointed out. She couldn't tell how he felt about it. As far as she knew, Itachi and Sasuke were rather close. Would it bother him if she did or didn't join his brother's squad? It was times like this when her teammate was completely unreadable.

"No, but your brother said he thought I'm more qualified than those on ANBU." She looked over to Naruto then, who was staring on with widened eyes. "And your father thinks so too apparently, since he approved of it."

"Let me get this straight, My brother who has never been on a mission with you, let alone train with you, asked you to be on his squad?" Sasuke asked incredulously.

"Yes, is that so hard to believe?"

" My brother, _Itachi_?" Sakura's mouth frowned increasingly so, her patience wearing thin. Now Sasuke was going too far. It really shouldn't be so hard to believe. She was known by almost everyone in Konoha for her advanced medical techniques. Hell, she was even becoming known in neighboring countries. It wasn't so far-fetched that Sasuke's stoic and distant brother had heard about her either. She didn't know Itachi-san well at all, but seeing as he was the clan's pride and excelled in just about everything he did, it wasn't surprising he would seek out the best people to be on his ANBU squad, even if it was a temporary arrangement.

"Do you know how dangerous ANBU is, Sakura-chan?" The blonde finally piped up after he had been silent for so long

. Naruto was not only her teammate but one of her closest friends. However, had one of the most annoying qualities and that was being _too_ overprotective of her. She isn't sure how it started, but at times it was overbearing.

"_Stop_ right there, Naruto," she hissed vehemently. Her words were so poisonous the blonde stopped talking immediately.

"When Sai received his ANBU position you congratulated him, when Sasuke received his Sergeant position, you congratulated him. Why is it when I get the chance to do an equally as dangerous job, you question my abilities?" She seethed.

"It's not like that, it's just-" Naruto tried to explain but Sasuke interrupted before he could mutter anything further.

"Shut it, dobe." Sasuke looked at Sakura with an impassive expression. "Nii-san overworks his squad when they already receives some of the harshest missions. Do you think you're able to keep up with them?"

She sucked in a sharp breath. Is this how they truly felt about her? Have they forgotten about all the times she saved them from danger? She had defeated an Akatsuki member, for crying out loud! They couldn't actually be serious!

"You guys don't need to baby me!" Her green orbs dangerously flicked toward Kakashi. He was silent during the entire exchange and she partially wondered if he was afraid of her little outburst. After all, she already scared the wits out of the other two idiots.

"I think it's a great opportunity, Sakura." Kakashi finally spoke the intense silence. "You're a strong woman."

Sakura's gaze returned to her half-eaten ramen. Her appetite was gone now. Even though she felt comforted by her teacher's words, she still felt grieved by her teammates sudden doubt. She stood up from the stool and tossed money for her food on the counter.

"I need to go," she muttered, not making eye contact with her teammates. She heard them call for her, but was glad that they didn't stop her.

"_Nii-san gives the harshest missions_," Naruto said, making a very terrible impression of Sasuke. "Nice one."

"Shut it, you were the one who implied it was too dangerous for her." Sasuke retorted.

The two continued to squabble until Kakashi sighed loudly.

"You _both_ are to blame."

* * *

After a disastrous lunch, she arrived at the hospital moments later. Her coworkers were surprised to see her in so early, seeing as she had the day off. She walked into her office and sat at her desk, shuffling through her work calendar. The next couple of weeks had actually looked dull. Really, it wouldn't be hard to pass her shifts onto someone else.

"What are you groaning about?" A very familiar voice questioned and Sakura looked up to find bright red eyes peering into her own.

Karin.

"Nothing that matters to you." She muttered, her attention returning to the calendar on her desk.

"Yeah, probably not." The redhead admitted. "But, I'm bored and I love hearing about your agony." Sakura groaned and buried her head in her hands. What terrible timing. Normally she would keep her dilemma to herself and rarely vent to anyone,_ but why the hell not?_

"After all this time, my team apparently thinks I'm helpless." She grumbled. Her speech slightly muffled from speaking into her hands.

"That's true." Sakura's head snapped up and she shot the red head an annoyed glare. "Continue…"

The pink haired kunoichi sighed. "…I have the chance to join an ANBU squad, but I can't because I have duties to take care of at this hospital." She wasn't sure why Karin was curious about her day or even listening but she didn't care. All she knew was felt good to rant to someone about her awful day. Even if it was Karin.

Karin leaned towards her and flicked her nose, catching her off guard.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" It took everything in Sakura's power not to break the girl's fingers.

"Don't yell at the person who's going to take your shifts!"

She felt her eyes widen at the remark. "You can't be serious—You're still in training."

Karin crossed her arms over her chest. "I've been training for months. I think I'm ready to handle a _little_ workload."

"There's nothing little about my workload," She rolled her eyes. "and why would you want to anyway? Last time I tried giving you my shifts, you said you weren't ready and you had a long way to go."

"I did have a long way to go, but a lot has changed since then." The girl adjusted her glasses.

"That was two weeks ago." All the sadness she felt earlier was now replaced by irritation. No wonder Ino always complained about her. She could be quite exhausting.

"I'm a changed person." Karin grinned gleefully.

Sakura eyed her suspiciously. Something was up. She and Karin could tolerate each other, but the girl hardly went out of her way to do anything for anyone. If Karin offered to do this for her, she could only imagine what the redhead wanted in return.

"Why would you do this for me?" She demanded forcefully.

"Can't a girl do something for a friend?" The Uzumaki smiled sweetly. This was definitely not the Karin she knew. _Just what was she up to?_

"We've known each other for months and you've never taken my shifts before, why now?"

Karin stretched her arm out and looked at her newly polished nails. The red coating was as vibrant as her hair and eyes. "A favor for a favor."

She should have expected that. "What do you want?"

"Oh, Sakura, why do you assume I want something now?"

"Because this is a big favor I'd be asking of you. There has to be something that you want. What is it?" Sakura eyed her carefully. She wasn't exceptional about reading people but she had a little grasp on the girl in front of her. Her actions definitely said that what she wanted was quite huge.

"It's just that... I've just been in Konoha for half a year already and I haven't met any bachelor's worthy of my presence." The girl trailed off.

The realization dawned on Sakura. Of course. Why didn't she think of it sooner?

"You want me to hook you up with Sasuke?" It was a rhetorical question, however. Of course the redhead wanted her assistance in pairing her up with her Uchiha teammate. No female besides his mother was closer to Sasuke that she was. Karin knew of her close relationship with him and it only made sense to ask the girl that was closest to him because there was no way her distant cousin, Naruto, would be competent enough to do so. "No way. Not a chance!" She learned her lesson last time she and Ino played matchmaker.

"If that's what you want, Sakura. I hope you find someone who will take your shifts." The Uzumaki said before she started walking out of the office. Sakura watched as the redhead strolled out of the office. Sakura did the right thing. Meddling in other people's relationships was _always_ a terrible idea.

When the girl was finally out of view, Sakura's eyes wandered back to her calendar. Really, her shifts were quite easy, it wouldn't be difficult to find someone else who could take her shifts, right? She rested her head in her hands and doodled on her calendar.

Truth be told she was a little more than intrigued that Itachi had chosen her out all the possible medics. He was regarded as one of the best shinobi in Konoha, and yet he wanted her on his squad. The fact that he had thought highly enough of her skills was a bit of a ego boost. It might be a temporary arrangement but the thought of working in such an advanced squad was intriguing and the more she thought about it, the more it felt right. This was something she really wanted to do.

Decision made, there was just one more thing she had to do.

She didn't like the idea of hooking up her teammate with Karin, or hooking up anyone in general, but after the way he spoke to her that morning, he owed her this. Sakura shot straight to her feet and sprinted out of the door.

"Karin, wait!"

* * *

**A/N: If you have the chance, please review. Thanks for reading!**


	3. The First Day

**A/N: So I present you a new chapter extremely early! Very much earlier than that second chapter. Huh?**

**Thank you for reviewing, and favoriting, and alerting. It made my day, yes.**

**Beta: Again, no Beta. So many, many apologies for any mistakes. **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Sad, I know.**

* * *

_6 Months ago._

* * *

_From a branch on a tall tree, he surveyed the vast, dense forest. The verdant green had been so overgrown, that to the untrained eye, it would be impossible to distinguish anything. For Uchiha Itachi, not only had his eyes been well trained for years of being a shinobi, but from the age of 8, he had already mastered his kenkei genkai, making this task even simpler. Activating his sharingan, he was able to distinguish things he did not notice before, the main thing because two chakra signatures in the distance. _

_Being one of the top shinobi in Konoha, Itachi was often chosen to assist in the Jonin exams. Unlike the chuunin exams, the Jonin exams were much more rigorous, and for some, downright impossible to pass. The Jonin exams had not always been implemented in Konoha. Afraid of sending lesser trained shinobi out onto the field, the Yondaime, found it best if standards were placed. In the case there were any major or threats, or worse, a war, the Konohagakure shinobi would be more than prepared for whatever would come their way. It wasn't the practical exam itself that created stronger individuals, but the preparation for it. Time and time again, it had proven itself as a sufficient method. _

___Out of the five years he participated in testing shinobi for the Jonin exams, it was rare to have more than two shinobi to pass. I_t was still early morning and so far he had already failed three out of five shinobi. By standards of other Jonin in the village, they were definitely not on par. 

_Now, the sixth person had not seemed to show any promise. While their ability to cloak their chakra and create a bunshin was excellent, they seemed to be highly inexperienced when it came to maneuvering around the forest soundlessly. Deciding he would end this before it really started, he created his own bunshin to search one chakra source while he investigated the other. Skillfully, he navigated around the forest quietly. Finally, he reached a petite figure of who was closer to where had been hiding._

_While the figure's chakra had been muted, his sharingan had allowed him to see that the chakra signature was overpoweringly large. It was remarkable that someone of small stature could possess such great power. To say he was intrigued, was an understatement._

_When a flash of pink hair and emerald eyes caught his attention, he immediately recognized just who this girl was. The corner of his lips lightly tugged upward. He knew the girl as Sasuke's former teammate. It had been quite some time he had seen her last and he was interested in seeing how much the girl had improved, if any. _

_She, however, could not recognize him. It was mandatory to disguise one's self with a henge to prevent distracting the shinobi that were testing. It was believed that if the test proctors appeared as they usually did, those who were testing from would not perform to the best of their abilities. His henge had given him the appearance of a man with short sandy colored hair, blue eyes, and tanned skin. It was very much contrary to his actual appearance._

_He dropped silently in front of her, but just as his feet were about touch the ground, her chakra infused fist crushed the earth below him. Itachi plummeted into the crater she formed and dust from the fractured earth billowed into a thick cloud, making it difficult for him to see. Using this moment to her advantage, she swiftly tossed kunai wrapped in explosive tags towards him. _

_Before the kunai could strike, he soundlessly leapt out of the crater. Unbeknownst to him, it was all according to her plan. Itachi walked carefully through the swirling dust formed from the crushed ground. Sharingan or not, it was difficult to see. It was apparent to him now that the smoke was created to set a diversion. She may not have known who he really was, but the smoke was irritating his eyes and it put him at a great disadvantage. _Smart girl_. Finally, he spotted her silhouette in the dust, but just as soon as he discovered her, he saw her arms move rapidly in succession. __He couldn't register what she threw, but much too soon he felt the pain of several tiny objects pierce through his flesh._

_Senbons._

_The almost invisible needles struck his vital points and he limply fell to the ground, completely paralyzing him. _

_He certainly did not expect this._

_Only medics were able to use senbons in such a way to incapacitate their opponents. He knew Haruno Sakura was a very reputable medic in the village. Eeally, he shouldn't have been surprised, but it was so rare to find a shinobi who was able to use senbons so skillfully. What had been surprising was it was the same young girl who had once stuttered over her words when she was nervous and the same girl who doubted her skills in comparison to her male teammates. The woman in front of him may have looked the same, but now she was a mass of confidence__._

_With his eyes fixed on the sky, he listened to the almost inaudible footsteps that walked toward him. Finally, she emerged in his line of view, an arrogant smirk painted across her delicate features. He almost laughed at the turn of events. _

_Haruno Sakura was a remarkable specimen. _

_His blue eyes stared into hers, staggered with what he saw. Emerald orbs like vultures, ravenous and deadly. _

_Now that she had him restrained, she sat on top of his incapacitated body. From her pouch, she pulled out a kunai and held it against his neck. She dug it so closely into his skin, it drew a bead of blood. The crimson dripped down, painting his false tanned skin. Of course, she had no intent to kill him, this was a test, after all. But her commitment was compelling. _

_"You underestimate your opponents," Sakura sneered._

_Her strategy was truly excellent, truly impressive. However, any strategy she used could never prevent her from what she did not know. Had he been any other S-rank shinobi, she would have been successful. But he was Uchiha Itachi disguised with a henge and he foresaw her tricks beforehand. _

_In actuality, she was sitting top of his bunshin, so perfectly imitating his henge._

_At that moment, the tags on her kunai exploded. The explosion from the tags filtered out any surrounding sounds. Now that she was momentarily deaf from the thunderous blast, his actual body crept up from behind her. Quickly, he wrapped his arm around her neck, pulling her up to her feet. While another one of his bunshins restrained her loose limbs._

_She threw her had back to try and breathe, but it was stopped short against his taut chest. _

_Itachi dipped down to the shell of her ear. His sharingan noted her pale skin prickling from the close contact. _

_"As do you," he retorted._

* * *

Present Day

* * *

Sakura woke bright and early, excited for whatever was to come from her first mission. Quickly, she ate a bowl of rice and pickled vegetables for breakfast before she started to get dressed. She slipped into the ANBU issued nylon-cotton blended black pants and then proceeded to pull over the matching black sleeveless shirt. Next, she slipped on her tall black boots and then finished the outfit by buckling the protective gray vest over her chest. Clad in ANBU attire but still wanting to stay true to herself, she pulled back her long pink locks, save for her bangs, in a high pony-tail. The two large rabbit ears of the ribbons stuck out stark against her petal pink hair. The ribbon was one that her mother made for her when she was young, a subtle crest to the Haruno family name.

Satisfied by her prim appearance, the beautiful kunoichi set off toward the entrance gates to meet her temporary squad. Admittedly, under her confident exterior, she was a bundle of nerves. She only had an idea of how ANBU missions worked solely based on Sai's recounting of his missions. What she did know was that it took a great deal of intellect and planning because each mission was highly unpredictable and usually dangerous. One thing that kept her intact and from fraying at the seams was the awareness that she was proficient in combat and medicine.

The trip from her apartment to the Konoha gates only took moments. She found Shisui and his fellow squadmate, Muta Aburame chatting with the gate guards, Izumo and Kotetsu. To her surprise, Itachi had been nowhere in sight. The guards looked mildly surprised to see her, but soon came to understand when Muta explained the situation.

"I never realized an ANBU uniform could look so good." Shisui whistled, eyeing her form from head to toe. She crossed her arms over a chest and gave him an unappreciative look.

"I didn't think I'd see you joining ANBU." Izumo said with some surprise. "Are things going slow at the hospital, Sakura-chan?"

"I suppose you could say that." She smiled sheepishly.

"I think this is the first time I'd known anyone to join Uchiha Itachi's ANBU squad willingly." Kotetsu laughed, though she didn't doubt there was a truth to what he said. Most people wouldn't want to be part of the Uchiha's squad. As far as everyone knew, he was very strict and often made his team undergo constant rigorous training. Of course, it was part exaggeration due to his cousin, Shisui's, constant need to joke just about everything.

The pink-haired kunoichi chuckled. "I'm actually quite eager to join Itachi-san's squad. Even if only temporary."

"You're a brave soul, Sakura." Kotetsu said in response, causing the group to laugh. While the men continued to joke about the terrifying, but thankfully, missing Uchiha, she looked around to find said man. She was a little confused to find he was still not present.

"Where is Itachi-san?" Sakura finally asked. She would have never believed him to be someone who would be tardy. As far as she knew he was punctual and extremely organized.

"Someone's eager to see my scary cousin! Is this the beginning of love blossoming?" Shisui clasped his hands together, a playful twinkle in his dark eyes. "The tale of a beautiful woman and the scary giant feared by the local villagers!"

"Idiot!" Sakura punched Shisui's arm with enough force, the man yelped. "I'm just wondering where he was because we were supposed to leave in a few minutes."

Shisui frowned as he held onto his bruising arm. "Maybe if you wore what you had on yesterday, he would be here."

Sakura turned bright red. She had wholly forgot both Uchiha's had seen her in nothing but a tattered, baggy shirt. Her face darkened and soon her fist came colliding with the Uchiha's face, causing the man to fly into the ground. So much for sharing the same haughty trait as the other Uchiha's. Shisui was more like Naruto and Sai than an actual Uchiha! And as a result he was rolling on the ground, cradling his injured face.

The other men looked frightened by her sheer power and more than likely understood that whatever she was wearing the day before, must have been something not worth ever mentioning or asking about.

It was then Itachi finally decided to arrive. The man looked very much confused at the scene before him. Kotetsu and Izumo greeted him like startled children, while Muta was on the ground making sure Shisui wasn't too badly damaged.

Sakura turned around when she heard his light footsteps approaching. "Itachi-san" She greeted him with a face still crimson from Shisui's words earlier.

What great timing she thought. _Not_. If it wasn't for the slight widening of his eyes, she would have assumed he was unfazed by the view. However, no one, not even Uchiha Itachi could be unfazed by the sight of a powerful shinobi like Shisui, practically crying on the ground.

"My apologies for my tardiness..." The prodigy trailed off, trying to discern whether he should comment about the event that just occurred before he walked up. He decided against it. "The Hokage had an emergency he needed to brief me about."

"It's fine, we weren't waiting long." Sakura cleared her throat. "Shall we get going?"

Itachi nodded once.

They were about to leap off until Shisui, who had been on the ground since he showed up, crawled over towards them. He dragged his body by his arms and reached out towards his cousin.

"Itachi, I think I'm dying..." He rasped.

* * *

The sun was beating down harshly on his back. It had been one of the hottest days he had experienced in years. It has also been one of the days where Itachi truly hated that he ANBU issued uniforms were black, since the color absorbed the scorching heat of the sun, making him sweat even more than he should. At the very least, Itachi was grateful for the animal masks they wore, on their faces because at least it blocked the sun from burning his pale face. The gods knew how much his skin could not handle the sun.

Behind him he overheard his cousin chatting endlessly with Haruno, or rather, ambushing her with his onslaught of words. He briefly wondered what his cousin's relationship was with the girl. He seemed to know her quite well and was more than eager to have her join their ANBU squad. Itachi was not stupid. If there was anything he was skilled at, it was reading people and their emotions and he was more than positive his cousin had some fixation with the kunoichi.

After hours of chattering, the group finally came to their destination. Itachi briefed his squad about their mission. The mission was to investigate a village in the Land of Rivers. Originally they were sent to check out strange activity occurring in a village a few hours south in the Land of Fire, but when the Yondaime received a very important message from ANBU squad one, the plans had changed.

ANBU squad one had been attacked by an enemy. Luckily there were no casualties, but the entire squad was terribly injured. Luckily they managed to detain the enemy who likely had a great deal of information regarding the missing people. The only problem was, he wasn't talking. Minato had specifically requested Itachi's squad because he and Shisui possessed the sharingan, allowing them to gather any information they want from their enemy. Not to mention, they temporarily had one of the best medics on their squad, who could easily bring their injured comrades back health.

When Itachi had mentioned that the members of squad one were injured in an attack, it struck a chord with Haruno, who's former teammate Sai, was on that squad.

It took them only few minutes to find squad one and their detainee. Truth be told they all looked worse for wear, but their captain, Genma, was in the worst condition. There were cuts and bruises all along his body and according to one squad member, Atsushi Akimichi, the man had passed out only minutes before, suffering from vertigo. True to her profession, it didn't take the kunoichi long to start nursing Genma back to health.

"Hag," Sai addressed Sakura, the nickname bewildering Itachi. "When did you join ANBU?"

"It's temporary. Squad three needed a medic." She eyed Sai's disheveled appearance. "You look terrible, I thought I taught you better than that." She scolded.

"Not well enough, apparently."

Itachi continued to watch on with mild interest. His attention then turned toward Muta and Shisui who had been talking to the other injured squad members. With everyone occupied, he decided it was the opportunity to acquire the knowledge he needed from the detainee.

The first thing he noticed about their prisoner was that he was missing his arms and legs. It appeared that they had been blown off in some kind of explosion. Despite the man's bedraggled appearance, however, he was wearing a bright, arrogant smile. It was as if he was enjoying the predicament. Itachi assumed it had something to do with having the ability to badly injure a team of advanced shinobi and still manage to live. The second thing Itachi noticed about the man was the black coat with the familiar red cloud pattern on it. He was an Akatsuki member. The last thing he took note of was that the man had long blonde hair, fastened in a high ponytail and only one of his blue eyes were showing.

Itachi said nothing as he crouched in front of the man. He took his mask off and eyed the Akatsuki member with his activated sharingan.

"An Uchiha, yeah?" The man sneered. "How disgusting."

His red eyes penetrated the man's brain and just as soon as Itachi looked at him, he obtained copious amount of information. Unfortunately the blonde did not know much. However, he did know something of importance_._ From what he had seen, the Akatsuki member had been meeting with some suspicious persons. The people looked rather normal, except each one of them had large purple ropes tied around their waists. The blonde did not exchange words with the people, but they did exchange scrolls.

Finally, Itachi spoke.

"Who are these people you've been meeting with?"

One blonde eyebrow wrinkled with exasperation. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You've been exchanging information with them."

"You invaded my mind?" The man articulated through clenched teeth.

He was taken a back that the man knew how his eye technique worked. Though his countenance remained expressionless, as usual, and he did not utter a word. This only angered the blonde more.

The man began thrashing his limbless body in attempt to free himself from the confines of the ropes. It was clear his instinct was to injure the Uchiha in front of him, even though it was close to impossible seeing has he had no limbs.

The Akatsuki member's outburst caught the attention of the other ANBU members in the vicinity. They all stared in interest at the picture before them. The dark-headed Uchiha, the definition of an aloof man near an enraged blonde man who going berserk. They were so contrastingly different it was quite interesting to watch.

At that time Haruno walked over and to inspect the man for herself. Realization dawned on her face as well as the blonde man's when their eyes met.

They knew each other.

"Never expected to see you again." The blonde smirked.

"Deidara." Sakura uttered his name knowingly.

The kunoichi sat near his own crouching form and in front of the wild Akatsuki member. Itachi looked at her curiously and without turning to him she responded to his wordless question.

"Our team fought him and his partner two years ago." She turned fully toward him then and he noticed that unlike the others she did not fear him nor fawn over him. She seemed almost unaffected. "It was one of the few times your brother actually came with us."

"Brother?" Deidara scrutinized him. "Ha! Now it makes sense. He was that dark-headed brat, yeah. I remember him. It was the first time I've seen that disgusting eye trick." Deidara spat. "You know it didn't take a lot to bring him down. An arrogant little shit, he was, hm."

Itachi narrowed his eyes a fraction. Talking negatively about his brother never sat well with him. It was one of the few things that actually angered him, though he never showed or acted on it.

"Are you as weak as your brother? Are you going to have this pretty little kunochi defend you too?" This man, Deidara, was clearly trying to instigate him but Itachi knew better. Although he initially struck a nerve, it would not best him. He was one of the top shinobi for a reason and that was because he was unmovable. "It's a good thing those shitty excuse for shinobi restrained me because if I was loose I would kill you."

"Such threatening words from the paraplegic." He responded at last and he did not miss the hate flash in that single blue eye.

Sakura giggled at that. A lot, actually. The melodic laugh was rather enticing and for some reason Itachi decided that he really liked that sound.

The Akatsuki member huffed in annoyance and muttered a string of curse words before looking away. It was as if he had finally realized that he was in fact limbless and tied up.

Deciding to wait until later to question their prisoner again, Itachi and Sakura returned to the other ANBU members to hear more of their sides of the story.

The words of the Akatsuki member re-played in his mind. Haruno had protected his brother against this Akatsuki member and his former partner? So, the rumor he heard from Shisui about the pink-haired kunoichi defeating an Akatsuki member was true after all... _Hn._

Haruno Sakura was truly a remarkable specimen.

* * *

It took few hours, but Itachi was able to successfully retrieve as much information from the Akatsuki member as possible. Unfortunately, just as he expected, it wasn't much more than he had learned earlier. What he did learn was there were eight other members of the criminal organization, Akatsuki, and much to his chagrin, they weren't the only threats. In fact, the people who they were exchanging secret information with were from the Sound Village, working under leader unknown to the man they held prisoner.

Within that time he heckled information from the blonde man, Haruno was able to nurse back the members of squad one to moderate health, though Genma was still in rather bad shape. Not unforeseen, his temporary medic had become tired from the hours of exhausting her chakra. Itachi decided that it was best if his ANBU squad stayed alongside squad one until they were ready to leave the following morning. It was the only option, honestly. It would be a terrible idea to leave a recovering team vulnerable to threats behind and certainly a terrible idea to leave while their medic was ready to pass out.

The only one who had actually passed out, was their prisoner who had been given a sedative.

Itachi had watched on as the group chatted and as usual, he opted out of the conversations. He had learned early in his life that he was not the conversationalist. Thankfully, Shisui did not try to include him either. It was only around times they were surrounded by groups of people he did not know personally that Shisui decided not to pester him. Even though the man liked to constantly joke around, he was actually respectful of his personal space.

Only few, _very few_, could penetrate his very hard, stoic exterior. Surprisingly, there had been one who had been successful enough to get close to knowing the true Uchiha Itachi, but even she was unsuccessful and unsurprisingly that person was no longer part of his life. He wouldn't say that he was still in love with her, it had been two years, after all, and it gave him more than enough time to move on. What he did miss, however, was someone to bring some warmth in his life. A metaphorical kind of warmth, and he supposed a physical warmth also, it was nice to feel that of another. He would also be lying if he said he didn't miss the physical aspect that came with being with someone, to truly connect with someone, rather than quick trysts with others.

Really, he had no idea why he was thinking such things. Except that he did.

Shaking his thoughts he listened to the conversation at hand. The group was chatting about Naruto and other Jonin in Haruno's age group. They were known to be some of the most remarkable group of shinobi of all time. If Team 7 including Sasuke was any indication of that, then Itachi would have to agree. He continued to observe everyone more intently. From the five minutes he listened to their conversation he learned a great deal about his fellow shinobi and he had to say that only some or rather just _one_ of them really had him interested in observing more closely.

Realizing where his thoughts were heading again, he decided that perhaps he just should just sleep for the night.

* * *

**A/N: **

******Regarding the story: As far as we know there is no mention of Jonin exams in Naruto. If anything the closest thing we get is some parent approval in a filler, I believe. If so I think that's kind of silly considering there are exams required to become a chunnin. So, if you need to advance to a higher level, I would think that exams would be required for to be a Jonin also. Thus I made there be Jonin exams. *throws glitter***

******There are some reoccurring themes in this, not sure if you noticed, but if you did, have fun taking note of them. If you didn't notice, try spotting them out. They're clues!**

**Thank you for reading! Please review if you have the time!**


	4. Uncertainty

**A/N: ****This was originally part of a _really_ long chapter, but I decided to break it up into two parts. That means the next chapter should be out in another day or two, so be on the look out for that, my friends.**

******This chapter is rather morbid, fair warning.**

**Thanks for all the reviews and favorites and alerts, it really means a whole lot to me!**

**Beta: Things haven't changed, still no beta, so many apologies for any mistakes.**

**Disclaimer: Nope I still don't own Naruto!**

* * *

Sakura woke up, with the most excruciating cramp in her neck. Surely it was the first time in a long time she had to sleep on the hard ground and not her soft bed. After all, it had been a long time since she actually went on a mission. Most of her time had actually been spent working long, monotonous shifts at the hospital. Rinse, repeat.

She looked around and found that everyone was still sleeping soundly. She then noted the absence of Sasuke's older brother. It was strange really. The night before everyone had been chatting all around having a wonderful time within each other's presence and yet he didn't partake in any of it. So soon after, the Uchiha went straight to sleep without even communicating that he would do so. No one in either of the squads, nor Shisui, said anything about the abrupt departure and it made her generally curious. As far as she knew he was always unexpectedly polite, so to not share a single word with his chatting comrades was certainly strange. It really made no sense to her and yet it piqued her curiosity.

As long as she had known him, he was always quiet and withdrawn. Truth be told, he intimidated the hell out of her, but she wasn't one to back down from people like this. If anything she usually pushed harder to understand these types of people. Ino said it was an annoying trait, but it certainly helped her in her profession.

She remembered the first time she met Sai, he was the same way. Except Sai was really rude and it earned him many black eyes, _that jerk_, but much like Itachi, Sai was quiet and withdrawn. Determined as she was, Sakura attempted to get Sai to open up and she was successful. Well, successful _enough_. He at least opened up to Team 7 and he, much like anyone else on their team, was family.

Of course, Itachi was a different person. Though the part that truly intrigued her was that despite his cold and almost aphotic exterior, it wasn't hard for her to miss the flicker of warmth that occasionally shined through his cracking foundation. Itachi, ultimately did obliquely help her by acknowledging her skills in front of the ravenous Uchiha women at Sasuke's party who tested her patience and questioned her worth. Even when her own friends (she would make sure Sasuke and Naruto would pay when she got home) didn't say a thing and worse, doubted her. It wasn't just a simple act of kindness, he really did acknowledge her and it spoke volumes to her.

Part of her brain screamed at her for even considering her desire to understand him. Yet, the woman in her kept encouraging her to try.

Closing her eyes, she concentrated to see if she could pick up the Itachi's chakra and she did. She breathed out softly before convincing herself, yet again, that it was not a bad idea.

Quietly, Sakura walked out of the cave she and her comrades had been resting in, and found Itachi standing outside. Tall and thin figure leaned against the cave wall, reading a scroll that he was holding. The Uchiha did not turn around to look at her but she was sure he detected her presence. Seeing that he was occupied, she was about to return to the cave until the red strips on the edge of the scroll caught her attention.

In Konoha, confidential information was encrypted in scrolls and those in ANBU were taught the secret language created by the founders of Konoha, since they were the ones who were assigned the arduous, life risking missions. Sakura had never seen or even heard the language but she knew it took someone very well trained to read the information.

The colored strips at the edge of the scrolls indicated the urgency of the intelligence. Colors such as purple, blue, yellow, orange, and red were used to describe the importance of the scroll, with red being the most urgent.

"Itachi-san..." She addressed softly, careful to not disrupt him from his reading. He let the scroll roll shut and looked down at her, his usual deadpan expression in place. "What is it?" She gestured toward the scroll in his hand.

Briefly, his dark orbs travelled to the object in hand before they returned to her. "The Yodaime wants us to investigate the village he originally assigned us to. There are...traces of some of the missing civilians we've been looking for."

Sakura noted his brief hesitance in mentioning the discovery. Her face wrinkled in thought, trying to discern what exactly he meant by traces. _Such a cryptic, this one._ Now she knew where Sasuke got it from. Luckily, he didn't make her think too much about it before he assisted her in understanding what he meant.

"There has been reports of complete skeletal structures at the site. They match the body types of those who have disappeared."

Her jaw slightly dropped at revelation. There had to have been thirteen people missing. There was no way they were all dead. _Was there?_

"The only way to tell if they are indeed those who have been missing is to examine the scene for ourselves." He responded to her nonverbalized question.

Not sure what to say, Sakura nodded and assisted him by waking up their comrades. Not long after, her companions awoke and Itachi reiterated to his team, what he told her moments before. Since squad one was still in rather poor shape, she healed them enough so they could travel without further assistance. It was a much better option than escorting the team back to Konoha, since their village was still a ways away.

While squad one returned to Konoha, Itachi's squad three traveled toward Hiji canyon, which located in the southern part of Fire Country. They arrived a few hours later to a hot wasteland, stripped of all forms of vegetation and life. Cracks ran along the ground and steam emitted from the fractured earth. It wasn't hard to spot the ivory mass of human remains, scorching under the hot sun.

They were only a few meters away when the putrid smell of rotten remains filled her nostrils.

The fetid stench was so strong, it was enough to almost make her gag. If it wasn't for the scrunching of Shisui's face, or Itachi and Muta breathing through their mouths instead of their nose, she would have assumed the men had been unaffected by the rancid odor. Though, with how little they did react, it was not hard to tell that this wasn't the first time they dealt with such a scenario. The idea haunted her a little.

Itachi took no time to begin investigating the skeletal remains. Pulling out a scroll from a bag that was sent from the Hokage, he looked back and forth from the remains to the scroll, reading information about the missing people. He prodded into the mouths of the skulls, examining their teeth. Then, he wrote on separate scroll, taking note of every detail he encountered.

She had seen this technique before, Ino's father had specialized in this task. One sure way to identify a decomposed body is by someone's teeth. Seeing as much of the flesh had already decayed off the bones, it was understandable that Itachi would examine their teeth, since the bodies would otherwise be unidentifiable.

Muta was nearby also, pressing his fingers into the dirt surrounding the bodies. He rolled around the clumps of dirt between two fingers, bringing the samples close enough so he could then examine it with his own eyes and not just through his insects.

She watched both men for several moments, quite amazed over how well practiced they were. It wasn't until she felt Shisui's heavy gaze on her that she actually turned from the scene. The older Uchiha was smiling brightly, not one full of mischievous like he usually wore. It was a rather weird time to do so, considering they were atop a mass of human remains, and yet this was the first time she had seen him smiling without any intent behind it.

"Say, Sakura-chan..." His warm expression was replaced by a thoughtful one. "Do you like working with ANBU?"

Lightly, she tapped her index finger against her chin, mulling over the question. "I don't think I've had enough time to say yet, but it's not unpleasant."

"I suppose I can understand that." A lovely grin adorned his face once again. "It's too bad you never applied for ANBU though. I think you're a good fit."

Sakura stared at him dumbfounded. She didn't say anything to that and really, couldn't think of anything to say, but it made her feel..._good_. And although, it had barely been two days, she had to agree, she was a good fit. Strangely enough, it felt as if she had always done this. Truth be told, if ANBU members and the Yodaime himself believed in her, she certainly could become an ANBU member full-time, couldn't she?

Moments later, Itachi and Muta approached her and Shisui. They were undoubtedly discussing their findings. They both nodded at each other's words as they recounted their evidence, more than likely coming to the same conclusion, whatever that may be.

"There is no match." Itachi stated in his roundabout way, when he was finally in reach.

"No?" Shisui queried, though it was more of a rhetorical question but Itachi answered anyway.

"The markings and the size of the teeth does not conform to the information the Hokage provided." The younger Uchiha roughly explained.

While Konoha didn't keep dental records of all people, they did have the people who knew the victims provide information to identify the missing people, like any quirks they might have had, such as biting their nails or grinding their teeth in their sleep.

"The dirt these skeletons were atop of don't seem to have many of the insects that decompose flesh around either." Muta added. "I don't believe there was much flesh left for them to decompose."

"Which means?" Shisui questioned impatiently, waiting for his very vague teammates to come out and say whatever the hell it was they were trying to say. Sakura could agree with _that_.

"These remains had begun decomposing quite some time ago." Muta clairfied, but only not, because she was still lost.

Itachi nodded. "It seems that these were placed here recently."

Then it finally made sense.

"What, why?" She asked this time, after listening to the information.

Itachi sighed, or what Sakura assumed was close to a sigh. "To derail us from the real problem at hand."

"Bravo!" Immediately, Itachi's dark orbs turned crimson, three black tomoe swirling in place. Sakura and Shisui spun on their heel to the man that had just manifested out of thin air behind them.

Perched on top of a nearby boulder, he sat with one leg bent up, the other hanging over the massive rock. The stranger had short, magenta hair and bronze colored skin.

"I shouldn't be very surprised that the Uchiha clan's prodigy figured something out this quick with so little evidence in a matter of minutes. You're more troublesome than I thought." His toothy grin was perilous.

Sakura knew she had seen him somewhere before but she just couldn't quite place it.

"What is your purpose?" Itachi questioned, ignoring the man's remarks.

"_Oh?_ You think just because you solved this that you're well on your way to finding out the source?" The man's tone turned into a condescending one. "This is just part of the mystery, young Uchiha."

She had seen this man's face, she had known she had. Then it finally dawned on her. Her bright eyes widening over the realization. "You're from Tanzuku Headquarters. Oita Daimaru. You're one of the missing shinobi!"

"So she speaks!" The man clapped his hands together and cheered. "Is this your new medic? Certainly much more desirable then that last one you had."

_Their last medic?_

"He knows Migaki?" Muta said as if he had read her mind.

"I wouldn't say know. More like had the pleasure of humiliating on your last mission." Daimaru chuckled.

She turned towards her comrades, trying to understand what was going through her minds, though they offered nothing. They were too focused on the renegade nin in front of them.

"So, you were the one who injured our teammate?" Shisui implored, venom laced in his voice.

"Did I strike a nerve with you?" Daimaru laughed. His hazel colored eyes flicked back to Itachi. "Uchiha Itachi, huh?" The Tanzuku Headquarters' nin leaned forward, while cradling his head in his hands, trying to get a closer look at Itachi without actually leaving his place."They say you're the best thing that's happened to your clan in a _very_ long time."

Not surprisingly, Itachi did not reply. In fact, he didn't say anything anything at all. Instead, he just stared back at the man with an unreadable expression.

"You behold great power and yet you allow yourself be used as a puppet by your clan and your village." The man stood up, but remained on the boulder. "We could really use a guy like you."

"Shut up-" Shisui demanded but he was interrupted by his own cousin. He snapped his head towards Itachi.

"We?" The younger Uchiha queried.

"I can't tell you that. Unless you decide to join us, that is." The renegade nin responded, his mischievous smile never faltering.

"And if I refuse?" Itachi questioned back.

"Well, then you refuse." The man shrugged. "But you have enough power to conquer if you so desired and yet you settle for less. Think about. You could be pulling the strings for once!"

And still Itachi said nothing. He was being insulted and baited, yet he didn't bother to defend himself.

"That's enough." She uttered after a much too long silence. The thought of Itachi betraying their village did not sit well with Sakura in many ways. "Now, I don't know much, but I know he'll never be liberated by joining the likes of you."

From her peripheral vision, she could see Itachi eyeing her strangely. She didn't know what it meant and she didn't care. She'd had enough more than enough of this traitorous man. "I wouldn't doubt he was being used by his clan, that's not a surprise to anyone, but he wouldn't do it unless he had people he cared about and that's more important than anything else."

The man cackled, holding his sides as if he were going to split. "What a little spitfire, this one. You should keep this one around, Itachi. She's loyal."

It was so sudden that Sakura had no time to understand what just had happened, but one minute the man was standing alone and the next Shisui had him restrained and screaming.

They didn't call him Shisui the teleporter for nothing.

By the time they Shisui had come back to them, the man had already stopped moving. He laid the traitorous Oita Daimaru on the ground and immediately Sakura checked for a pulse but the man was already dead.

"He's..." Disbelief was evident in her soft voice.

"He's been long dead." Itachi stated as kneeled down beside her. He stared at the man's hand that she held tightly in her own before his obsidian orbs flickered to the man's face. The light was gone from those hazel eyes that had been vibrant only moments ago. Itachi reached toward the man's face, his long fingers closing the bronze eyelids shut.

He stood back up and walked away from her, leaving her even more confused than she was moments before.

"What...what are you saying?" She breathed heavily through her nose, following after him to try and understand what he was implying. It made no sense. How was the man long dead when he was alive and moving minutes ago.

"His body was being controlled by another." Itachi turned to face her, his piercing gaze intense as ever. As always, it made her want to look away but she remained firm. She would not back down. "It is an Uchiha technique."

Sakura looked up at Shisui for further confirmation, but his mind was elsewhere. He was staring off in the distance, jaw clenched tightly and brows furrowing ever so. It was so unlike him. It was almost startling. She had never see him like this before. _Just what was going on?_

"Let's get going." Itachi commanded. Sakura and Muta followed immediately, but Shisui faltered.

* * *

**A/N: *EDIT* I know you might be confused about the technique and who its done by but just wait it out. ;)**

**Thank you for reading. Please review if you have the time.**


	5. Hiji Village

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Naruto and I never will. Is this really necessary?**

**No beta. Sorry for any mistakes.**

* * *

They came upon a small village after their run in with Oita Daimaru, or rather what looked like him.

The village of Hiji was infinitesimal. There were few small buildings and homes lining one single road. The structures were old. Cracks ran along the white walls and some had even sunk considerably into the loose dirt.

He followed after his friends, who seemingly knew where they were going. He hadn't said much, if anything, since the incident earlier and he just didn't want to. For the first time in a long while, he actually just wanted to go home and for good reason. The words that man said earlier had really troubled him. Itachi was strong and although he never showed his full power, Shisui knew it was there. Though he never understood why his cousin hid his true strength, but he felt like some light was shone onto the reason of why that was.

Long before his cousin was even born, the clan already held the reins on his life. It was like that for all Uchiha's, after all, but for Itachi it was a little different. He was a genius, a prodigy, someone who was able to advance to a level some spent a lifetime trying to reach. A child like Itachi should be celebrated but instead he was exploited by the clan. It didn't matter that he was a living, breathing person, what did matter was that he gave them leverage over other clans. A genius above all others.

In actuality, the Uchiha clan didn't treat Shisui much differently. They solely cared about what he could do for them. True happiness seldom ever existed within the hearts of those in the Uchiha clan, yet they were bred to be so prideful. It was nonsensical, truly.

He knew he partially acted the way he did because it distanced him from the clan as much as possible. It was better to be a cheerful, friendly person than a brooding and arrogant one. He, however, wasn't the only outlier of the Uchiha. Itachi did not act like the others in the clan, however, he had an extremely distant personality and was known to shut people out if they tried to get too close. He partially believed that if he hadn't insisted so hard to be friends with his younger cousin, then Itachi would have had no one and would probably be manipulated by the clan even more that he already was.

Even though Itachi never said anything or acted in a certain way, it was obvious there was resentment toward the Uchiha. But would he betray his clan if he was given the chance? Would his closest friend become his enemy? He had the means to do so, so why hadn't he acted yet?

Shisui shook his head. He was being ridiculous.

It was like Sakura said earlier, he had people he cared about, if he wanted to leave, then he would have done so already.

He laughed inwardly. This girl already seemed to know Itachi better than he did.

Shisui watched the pink-haired kunoichi as she walked alongside Itachi and Muta. She had already gotten adjusted to being in their company. Unlike other women he had met, she didn't seem to be affected by their clan name. Just as he had always seen her, she treated everyone with kindness and accepted everyone as they were. He smirked. With her around, maybe he didn't have to worry, after all.

What he did have to worry about was how he would unite the pink-haired beauty and his stoic younger cousin.

There were times he would invite Itachi to lunch, bring the date along and then tell them both that he left the stove on and that he would be back later. That worked well until he did it a second time and Itachi realized his plans and then started refusing lunch. He had other methods that worked out and Itachi even advanced with the people he'd set him up with, until they tried to get too close and Itachi pushed them away. This time, he had to work smart.

"This place looks deserted..." Shisui said to no one in particular, taking in his surroundings. There weren't people walking around, but Shisui could detect their presence.

It wasn't until they walked back and forth aimlessly for several minutes that someone actually approached them. A short, elderly man, assisted by his cane, limped toward them. He looked defensive and quite suspicious of them, but none the less, that didn't stop him from puffing up and staring them down.

"What are you lot doing here?" The man grumbled, seemingly annoyed. Old eyes squinted, trying to make out their faces.

Muta, who often did the talking, spoke. "Sir, We were wondering if-"

The old man whacked his bespectacled teammate with his cane and Muta hissed from the pain.

"Speak up, boy." The old man demanded.

"We are Konoha sh-" He tried to continue but the man smacked him in the leg once more. Shisui stifled a laugh. He _tried_, anyhow.

Sakura smiled sweetly at Muta. "I got this." She then walked over to the elderly man, who despite looking like an imp next to Muta, was still taller than her. "Hello-"

"What a beautiful girl!" The old man gripped her shoulder with his free hand. "Are these creeps bothering you?" He held onto the kunoichi protectively.

"No, No. They're my_ friends_." The soft smile on her face never faltering. "We're from Konoha. We were in the area and were wondering if there were any lodgings here in your humble village." The man's old mug softened considerably. S_he was so good at this!_

"Sweet girl, you are too thin. Why don't we get you something to eat first." He said sympathetically.

If Sakura was what it took for them to not eat old, stale food they packed before they went on missions, then they really needed to bring her on missions more often!

The group followed the old man who was dragging the poor kunoichi along with him to the largest building in the small village. Of course, that wasn't saying much, considering it was the size of some of the smaller buildings in Konoha. Inside they met an assortment of people, most were elderly like the man they had ran into, but they were all kind and welcoming...to Sakura, at least. To Shisui and his two male comrades, not so much. The people of this village made it known too. They would not hesitate to attack if they bothered the 'sweet, nice, young girl.' Little did they know she had physically harmed _him_ yesterday!

They escorted them to a dining area group where a few others villagers were dining. Despite the elderly man explaining to others in the room that they were shinobi from the Leaf Village, people still looked at them with mild suspicion but great interest. He felt as if they were some sort of spectacle because, obviously the locals did not get many visitors.

There was a low table near the wall of the room, where four elderly people, the heads of the village, sat side by side, four empty seats across from them.

One elderly man, named Daisuke, introduced himself as the leader of the village. By his side was his wife, Nana, and two other men, who were part of his council.

Seeing this as an opportunity to get his secret plan to take off, Shisui insisted that Itachi and Sakura sit first because '_captains and ladies_' first. Satisfied that it worked, he sat next to Sakura. He had to observe, after all!

"It's kind of rare for konoha villagers to be out here." The leader of the village observed, skepticism in evident in his tone.

It was true. Konoha villagers rarely ever wandered out of the village, except, they were not villagers, they were shinobi. Of course, the old people didn't know that and they couldn't know that. ANBU missions were secret and they couldn't let these elderly people know they were investigating the area for corpses. Shinobi, rarely ever wandered into small towns like this for that exact reason. They don't like to be questioned. It's against protocol to divulge outsiders with information regarding shinobi work, especially ANBU missions. However, seeing as night had already fallen and it was basically a wasteland for miles, it was best they found shelter immediately and not camp out where they were vulnerable to enemies.

"Your generosity is appreciated." Itachi thanked them. He was also quite good when it came to knowing what to say.

"Oh, it's no trouble." Daisuke's wrinkled mouth curved into a smile. "What brings you here anyway?"

Then a light bulb flicked on in Shisui's mind. He had an an idea.

"That is not something that I am able to-" Itachi started but stopped when Shisui stood behind him and Sakura and gripped their shoulders. The two of the both turned around and stared at him, unsure of what he was doing.

"Please pay no mind to this man here. He's just being modest. For you see, today was a special day." The elderly folks, as well as his teammates continued to stare and he was quite enjoying the attention. "These two married this morning!"

Sakura nearly choked on the rice she was eating and Itachi glared at him. As for the elders, they had expressions of pure glee, with 'aw's' and 'splendid's' coming from the couple, as well as the other people who were dining in the room.

"What are you doing?" Itachi and Sakura whispered harshly in unison.

"We can't tell them why we're here, so we have to make up a good excuse." He whispered back. He looked up to find the elder people still staring. "Yes, my companion and I," he gestured over to Muta, who was also terribly confused by what he was pulling. "are escorting these two love birds to their honeymoon destination."

Shisui could already feel his death by Sakura's fists approaching near.

"It is rather dangerous out there! It is very kind of you folks to do that for these two." The village leader uttered. His gaze turned toward the supposed 'lovebirds.' "I'm sure you're enjoying married life so far?"

Itachi and Sakura glanced at each other briefly, waiting to see if the other would answer. They couldn't exactly tell the village leader the truth now.

"We are enjoying it fine." Itachi stated mildly.

"To be honest, if you hadn't said anything, I wouldn't have been able to tell! Are you sure you two are married?" Daisuke laughed.

Sakura sighed heavily through her nostrils and mumbled something so quickly, no one could hear it. But then he had quite an idea what she said when she placed her hand on top of Itachi's closed fist that was resting on the table._ 'Shisui, sleep with one eye open.'_

Her terrifying expression turned into a sweet one immediately. She_ really_ knew how to act. "Itachi and I are very much married."

"Yes, we are." Itachi stared at her hand and slowly placed his free hand on hers, Sakura stiffened.

The old woman, Nana, squeaked merrily. "So precious!" She looked over to her husband and entwined her hand with his. "Remember we were that young and in love, anata?"

"Like it was yesterday!" Daisuke chuckled.

Sakura started eating the rest of her food with her free hand, in attempt to avoid any more questioning.

"Let's be honest here. Are you two ready to start making children?" The elderly woman pried and the kunoichi choked on that extra food she was stuffing in her mouth.

Itachi said nothing but stared at her as if he was deciding if he should help her or not. Once she got over her coughing fit, he handed her a cup of water and she downed the contents of the glass in one swig.

"Nana, dear, you're embarrassing the poor girl." Her husband chided her.

"Ah, it seems you're right. I apologize, darling. Having children is definitely something you want some time to think about."

"That is right, it took us some time before we decided to have our only child." Daisuke added. "That didn't stop us from love making for the rest of our lives, we still do! With a beauty like yourself, I'm sure this man is quite excited about that."

"But dear, he is a very handsome man, so I'm sure the excitement is mutual."

Poor Sakura's face was turning bright red.

"It appears my wife is not feeling so well. May we excuse ourselves for a moment?" Itachi finally remarked. Sakura was amazed how he could keep a poker face even when someone pried into his sexual life. Imaginary or not.

"Of course, our darlings." She pointed at the wooden double doors across the room. "In that hallway, there are some restrooms that you can wash up in."

Itachi held a hand out to her and she took it. All the while Shisui had the largest grin on his face.

With his hand on the small of her back, he guided her through the room. It wasn't until they were actually through the double doors that he broke his contact with her.

"I apologize. I had no idea Shisui would say such a thing."

"Ah. I know you didn't." She shook her head, avoiding any eye contact. "I'm sorry, I must seem immature."

"Your actions are understandable." She looked up at him then. His serious expression never waning.

The words she spoke earlier re-crossed her mind. _Oh gods_. Her face turned red again. Did she really admit aloud that she thought Itachi was being used by his clan. She had always thought that about him and Sasuke, but she never said that to anyone, not even to Naruto who had mentioned it to her.

"I'msorryformyrudenessearlier." She spoke so quickly her words ran together. Covering her face with her hands, she peeked at him through parted fingers.

He smiled at her faintly and then focused on something in the distance. "It is not untrue."

Embarrassed as she was, she was partially relieved she did not have to elaborate what she was referring to.

"It wasn't my place to say anything!" She shook her head profusely, hands still covering her crimson tinted face.

"I do not think differently than you." He informed her. Her hands dropped from her face and she eyed at him inquisitively. The slight smile that softened his usually hardened features was still in place. She felt a strange twinge in her chest from the sight. "Are you ready to return?" he asked, holding his hand out to her.

She stared at him momentarily before she nodded dumbly and reached for his open hand.

They returned to a room that was empty, save for the people that shared their table. The group was chatting loudly, but all turned around to face them when they joined the table again. Shisui's awfully large grin from earlier stretched on his face once again. _She really was going to hurt him._

"Are you feeling any better, dear?" The concerned elderly woman queried.

"Yes, thank you." She replied.

"We are quite happy for you. You see, our only daughter never married. I just hope she will find a wonderful husband like yours and marry one day." The woman frowned.

Sakura got a mischievous gleam in her eyes. The people were well into their 80's, therefore, their daughter had to at least be fifty years of age. "Our comrade, Shisui isn't married either. Maybe the two could meet each other and hit it off." The elderly woman gleamed but all three of her teammates snapped their heads toward her and she partially wondered if she said something wrong.

Before anyone of them could protest the woman spoke again.

"Maybe you're right. Our daughter Chieko should be in soon." She looked over to Shisui. "She is rather beautiful, I'm sure you will be pleased."

Itachi looked at her as if he was going to say something, but clamped his mouth shut and looked away. _Did she do something wrong?_

After they ate the last of their meals, the group chatted about the founding of their small village. The Hiji village was created by Daisuke and former shinobi who wanted a simple life away from the fighting they once partook in. These people, however, were not from Konoha, but from another small village some few hours away. Hiji was supported almost completely by the elderly folks, and any additional funds came from their birth village. Since it was exclusive to only those who had lived within the village and not to any travelers, there weren't any lodgings they could stay at. Thus, Daisuke and Nana offered for the squad to stay at the building they currently were in, which was not only the headquarters of the village but also their home. The squad happily accepted their invitation.

Moments later they were approached by a young woman. Ringlets of long, thick luscious blonde hair framed her heart shaped face. Tanned skin and eyes so blue. Not to mention she was on the curvier side, quite the opposite of her. She was really beautiful.

"This is the doctor of our village." Nana led the woman to their table having her sit down on the end by Shisui. "Who also happens to be our pride and joy, Chieko."

Shisui couldn't look any happier and Sakura was completely dismayed. _Why was it when she tried to get back at Shisui, it only ended in his favor? The gods were cruel!_

The elderly couple looked over at her and Itachi, gleaming. "You see? You two can still have many years of love making before you decide to have children!"

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**Thanks for reading. Please review if you can.**


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